• Submitted by: manso
• Arts and Culture
• 03 / 14 / 2011

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Mar 14, 2011.Oscar winner Benicio del Toro makes his directorial debut in Havana with a segment in the movie 'Seven days in Havana'.

In the lead up to the actor Benicio del Toro's directorial debut, he elaborates that directing was not that much different from acting.

"It's going to the story and it's asking questions," he said at a news conference in the Havana, Cuba.

Del Toro, who won an Oscar in 2001 for his role in Steven Soderbergh's Traffic, directed a segment called El Yuma about an American actor traveling to the island for a seminar, in the feature Seven Days in Havana.

It features US actor Josh Hutcherson, 18, who has played in films such as Bridge to Terabithia and Little Manhattan.

He gave a pat on the back to Del Toro's directorial style.

"The way that Benicio works, it's relatively easy to work with him," Hutcherson said.

Del Toro, 44, has been in Havana before, preparing for his role as Argentine rebel Ernesto Che Guevara in Soderbergh's 2008 movie Che.

Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro, who Guevara fought alongside in Cuba's 1959 revolution, praised his performance and in July 2008 Del Toro came to Havana to receive a lifetime achievement award.

Making his directorial debut was a "dream come true," Del Toro said.

Seven Days in Havana is French-Spanish production that presents a contemporary portrait of the city, producer Alvaro Longoria told reporters.

It has six other segments, directed individually by Julio Medem, Laurent Cantet, Pablo Trapero, Gaspar Noe, Elia Suleiman and Juan Carlos Tabio.

The cast includes Cuban actors Vladimir Cruz and Jorge Perugorria, best known internationally for their roles in the 1993 film Strawberry and Chocolate.- Reuters

Source: www.mindfood.com/at-benicio-del-toro-debuts-as-director-in-havana-film-.seo