Havana Glasgow Film Festival (HGFF), born in 2014, showcases Cuban cinema and culture within Havana’s twin city of Glasgow, Scotland. The festival celebrates local identities and cultures, highlighting the similarities between Havana and Glasgow and the thriving artistic talent that exists within both cities.
Our sixth Havana Glasgow Film Festival, running online from 10-15 Nov 2020, will screen the best Cuban documentary, feature, animation and short films , facilitate discussions and host dynamic cultural events. We have unique access to Cuban films in the UK through our partnership with the
Cuban Film Institute (ICAIC).
This year we focus on extraordinary and exemplary practices originating in
Cuba through this year’s theme Extraordinary Cuba with a focus on Health, Innovation and Internationalism.
Eirene Houston – Festival Director/Curator
What makes the Festival possible is Eirene’s 23+years commitment to Cuba, strong relationship with the Cuban Film Institute (ICAIC) and long term working partnership with Hugo Rivalta.
A screenwriter and director, her debut feature ‘Day of the Flowers’ (shot in Cuba) was screened at Edinburgh Film Festival and Havana’s International Film Festival, amongst others. Her feature documentary, ‘My Life is Dance’’ is in post production.
Eirene has been invited to be on the documentary jury for HGFF partner festival The International Festival of Gibara (FIC Gibara) where she has also given a presentation about Havana Glasgow Film Festival and screened some of the Scottish shorts previously screened at HGFF. She is also a curation advisor.
Hugo Rivalta – Co-Director/Curator
Based in Havana, Hugo is a top TV writer, filmmaker and journalist. Most recently his series for adolescents ‘Secondary Days’ – 45 episodes – has been shown on Cuban Television. He is also screenwriter of a new horror short film, ‘Rumour’. His original animation feature ‘The Super’, produced by ICAIC, is currently in post production.
Julia Harriman – Coordinator
Dani Acosta is a graphic designer and web developer. More recently he moved into video editing and production. In 2020 he produced the documentary Cuba & COVID-19: Public Health, Science and Solidarity through DaniFilms.