The New York City Traveler

The propaganda machine was in full swing yesterday at the screening of Fidel at the Havana Film Festival New York (HFFNY).  The film, which outlines the life and achievements of Cuba’s former President Fidel Castro, was part of the Estela Bravo Retrospective: Witness of Her Time program which is a centerpiece in this year’s festival. 
The documentary was less of a film and more of an lesson in adulation.  Director Estela Bravo never strayed from her hero-worship of Fidel Castro and the film read more like a infomercial, with extreme bias and lack of balance.  Initially, I thought that Ms. …read more

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With just over a month until Sex and the City: The Movie hits the theaters, I have a little something to tide you over; the newest, longer, and better, Sex and the City trailer has hit the web. 

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Spring is “film festival season” in New York and today marks the opening of the Havana Film Festival New York (HFFNY).  The film festival celebrates the best of Latin America cinema featuring films from Cuba, the Caribbean, Mexico, Central and South America.  The festival runs until Thursday, April 17th. 
Tonight’s opening film, La Noche de los Inocentes (The Night of the Innocents) (Cuba/Spain/Italy), opens with a badly beaten man in the emergency room of La Habana hospital.  Everyone assumes that he’s been assaulted for being a transvestite, but as the night continues, mysterious characters “come out of the woodwork.”  The …read more

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The 15th Annual New York African Film Festival (NYAFF) started yesterday, April 9, in New York and will run through May 26th.  The festival features over 40 films from 22 African countries.
The films in this year’s festival emphasize history and storytelling, technology and the future.  This year’s theme, “Cinema and History: Africa and the Future,” will mark the 50th anniversary of the independence of Guinea from colonial rule and will feature footage of this independence as captured by Russian archival footage. 
Among this year’s films are:
Cuba: An African Odyssey (France), which examines events surrounding Che Guevara’s military campaign in …read more

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Perhaps its was the anti-climatic award season or the lackluster news conference-style Golden Globes.  But this year’s best movies have not received the main-stream press attention that they would have once garnered.  The Diving Bell and the Butterfly is one such film that has been largely overlooked by American audiences.       
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly is a stunning film based on the memoir written by Jean-Dominique Bauby, former editor of French Elle.  After Bauby suffers a stroke that leaves him in a coma for 20 days he wakes to find that he is suffering from “locked-in” syndrome; he …read more

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Top of the Rock, the observation deck of Rockefeller Center, is a great place to take in a bird’s-eye view of Manhattan.  It’s open until midnight and lacks the long lines that plague the Empire State Building Observation Deck.
He made a name for himself at Le Cirque, but he continues to impress with his edible creations.  Share some chocolates, truffles, or chocolate covered strawberries from Jacques Torres Chocolate.  Locations in Dumbo, West Village, and a new location on Amsterdam Avenue on the Upper West Side.
The Valentine’s Day Poetry Reading at NYU’s Jurow Hall isn’t like any other, it will feature …read more

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This Saturday you can relive one of your own childhood memories while introducing your children to French cinema.  A newly restored version the 1956 classic short The Red Balloon (Le Ballon Rouge) will be screened by the French Institute. 
The Red Balloon is a story about friendship and loss that features a boy, Pascal, who has an encounter with a red balloon that subsequently leads him on a journey through Paris.  The movie run time is 36 minutes and is in French but has very limited dialogue.  Games and activities inspired by the movie will follow the screening. 
Location:  …read more

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