THE Puerto Rican actor Benicio del Toro is in Cuba to direct the filming of one story within Siete días en La Habana, (Seven Days in Havana) a collaborative work with six other filmmakers.The film will be comprised of seven stories, about 15 minutes each, one for each day of the week, narrating events of daily life in contemporary Cuba, maintaining stylistic unity, in a project similar to the collective feature filmsParis, je t'aime and New York, I Love You.Del Toro, who won a best actor prize at the Cannes Festival and a Goya in Spain, for his role in the films The Argentine and Guerrilla, also by Soderbergh, in which he portrays Ernesto Che Guevara, was awarded the Union of Cuban Writers and Artists' 2009 Tomás Gutiérrez Alea International Prize for Cinema.">THE Puerto Rican actor Benicio del Toro is in Cuba to direct the filming of one story within Siete días en La Habana, (Seven Days in Havana) a collaborative work with six other filmmakers.The film will be comprised of seven stories, about 15 minutes each, one for each day of the week, narrating events of daily life in contemporary Cuba, maintaining stylistic unity, in a project similar to the collective feature filmsParis, je t'aime and New York, I Love You.Del Toro, who won a best actor prize at the Cannes Festival and a Goya in Spain, for his role in the films The Argentine and Guerrilla, also by Soderbergh, in which he portrays Ernesto Che Guevara, was awarded the Union of Cuban Writers and Artists' 2009 Tomás Gutiérrez Alea International Prize for Cinema.">

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Benicio del Toro filming in Cuba

THE Puerto Rican actor Benicio del Toro is in Cuba to direct the filming of one story within Siete días en La Habana, (Seven Days in Havana) a collaborative work with six other filmmakers.

The film will be comprised of seven stories, about 15 minutes each, one for each day of the week, narrating events of daily life in contemporary Cuba, maintaining stylistic unity, in a project similar to the collective feature filmsParis, je t'aime and New York, I Love You.

Collaborating on the screenplay are Cuban writers Leonardo Padura and Eliseo Antunaga, as well as screenwriter and director Arturo Infante. The directors for the other stories in the film are Julio Medem from Spain, Laurent Cantet from France, Argentine Pablo Trapero, Argentine-French Gaspar Noé, Palestinian Elia Suleiman and Cuban Juan Carlos Tabío.

The team of actors include, among others, Cubans Jorge Perugorría, Mirta Ibarra and Vladimir Cruz - the famous trio from Fresa y Chocolate, co-directed by Tomás Gutiérrez Alea and Tabío.

The project proposes to offer a "multitude of visions" of Havana and is being co-produced by the Spanish company Morena Films and the French Full House with a budget of close to three million euros, to be released this coming October.

During the most recent International Festival of New Latin American Cinema held last December, Del Toro, known for his leading role in Steven Soderbergh's film Traffic, which won him an Oscar in 2001, announced his planned film and reported that he had made over 12 visits to the island in preparation and that during these trips he had "established a strong connection with Cubans."

The Puerto Rican actor said that he now feels part of Cuba's capital city, almost a habanero and that shooting his first project as a director here is a great privilege. "Havana is the best place to begin this adventure, being behind the cameras for the first time."

The protagonist of Wolfman arrived in Havana March 2, and began filming on the 4th. He commented that his fictional piece is based around the life of an actor from the United States traveling to Cuba for a seminar who comes to know the city in one night, although not as a tourist. He has chosen as two of the leading actors in his story Cubans Daisy Granados (Retrato de Teresa) and Vladimir Cruz (David in Fresa y Chocolate).

Del Toro, who won a best actor prize at the Cannes Festival and a Goya in Spain, for his role in the films The Argentine and Guerrilla, also by Soderbergh, in which he portrays Ernesto Che Guevara, was awarded the Union of Cuban Writers and Artists' 2009 Tomás Gutiérrez Alea International Prize for Cinema.

On this occasion he was accompanied by the great U.S. actors Robert Duvall, James Caan and Bill Murray.

During the December 2010 press conference at the Hotel Nacional, Medem said, "From the very beginning, he decided to join us in a tribute to and for Havana, with a vision from outside and from within," while ArgentineTrapero affirmed that it was "a marvelous opportunity to take to the screen the special affection he feels for the island." 

Source: www.granma.cu/ingles/culture-i/10marzo-Benicio del.html

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