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• 10 / 16 / 2008

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Cuban filmmaker Rigoberto López (‘Yo soy del son a la salsa’, ‘Roble de olor’) spoke about the significant progress of the project, which is sponsored by UNESCO, UNICEF, CARICOM and the TV network Telesur, among other entities.

López is the current president of the traveling film festival, which already includes films from 26 Caribbean nations and in his words, constitutes our response “to counteract the prevailing cultural patterns in the world today, thus reaffirming each Caribbean people’s cultural tradition and national identity.”

Speaking with Prensa Latin news agency, López pointed to the screening of 11 feature films during the "Ciné-Rebonds Caraibe" Festival.

“UNESCO sponsored the presentation of these Caribbean films here in France and they now said they will fully support our initiative to take back with us 36 films in Creole language to be screened for Haitian children

and young people, who were recently affected by hurricanes,” he added.

López’ documentary ‘Puerto Príncipe mío’ was screened at the cultural center La Chef. It was well-received by the audience, who were visibly shocked by the extreme poverty that the Haitian people live in.

"Worse still, I made this film back in 2000 and today, eight years later, the situation of the Haitian people has not improved. Tropical storms have really devastated Haiti,” said the Cuban filmmaker.

“However,” he concluded, “as a prestigious writer said, “the Caribbean roots can be easily found in Paris, London or Manhattan and a small island like Saint Lucia has produced two Nobel Prize winners, which proves

that we are much more than just sun, sand and beautiful women.”

(Cubarte)