Democratise cinema, says Humberto Solás

PTI[ SATURDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2003 04:39:10 AM ]

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Cuban director and jury chairman of the eighth
International Film Festival of Kerala Humberto Solás on Friday said that he
was for "democratising" cinema through production of low-budget films.

"The only way for this is to escape from producers. We are aiming
to produce 10 films which could be made within a budget of 50,000 dollars," he
told reporters here.

Solás said that Cuban cinema was facing a crisis due to lack of
resources for the last ten years. "However, we are recovering from the
situation right now. Young film-makers had made their foray into the scene and
I feel that there is going to be a renaissance in Cuban cinema."

Solás added that even in co-productions he did not have to make
compromises as his films were based on Cuban novels. "If you mix the views of
the co-producer in your movie, then it is catastrophe," he said.

Praising Satyajit Ray as one of the biggest masters of cinema,
Solás said he was planning to screen Ray films in the festivals in Cuba . "The
young talk about Quentin Tarantino more as they do not know film-makers like
Ray," he said.

Latin American cinema has changed from what it was 30 years ago.
Films had become individualistic whereas it was more focussed on the country
in the past.

The trends showing deviation of attention to North America was
dangerous. "There is a lot of narcissism in Latin American cinema now," he
said.