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Important Moments in Latin American Film
Santo Domingo, November 14, 2010

Frank Padrón, a leading Cuban film critic for the last 25 years, feels very strongly that young people should know about history. He said as much to a packed room of Dominican teens and young adults at the opening of his 3-day workshop which ended on Sunday. Frank made his point on the first day of his workshop when he showed Mario Peixoto’s 1930 silent, experimental - and now legendary - film.

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“It was amazing. Who would have thought that a silent film from maybe my grandparents’ generation would have kept all of us so quiet for 2 whole hours,” said Raul Francisco de la Rosa, 17, from La Romana.
Raul’s friend Jose Manuel Villar nodded in agreement, “sometimes the fast-moving Hollywood pictures just don’t convey the deep emotions that this film did.”

This was precisely the response Frank Padrón hoped to get from his young audience. “I admit I am pleasantly surprised,” said Frank who also hosts a popular TV show, De Nuestra America in which he reviews movies for his Cuban audience. Padrón has also written several books on film.

Aspiring actor and would-be filmmaker, Moises Abreu, 18, was equally fascinated by Frank Padron’s workshop, which was titled “Important Moments in Latin American Film.”

“He took us step by step through the history of Latin American film evolution, explaining that the three ‘Meccas’ were Mexico, Brazil and Argentina,” said Moises who intends to study film in the US next year.

Moises admitted that he was impressed by the fact that his generation, raised with fast-moving films, instantaneous communication, text messages, etc. were indeed moved by the silent Brazilian movie which was about two women lost at sea in a rowboat, whose pasts were shown in flashbacks. “Nowadays, the idea of filmmaking is to sell movies not to necessarily project ideas and emotions or spread a message. This is something we feel but it was confirmed even more in Frank’s workshop,” said Moises.

Frank, who happened to walk up just as Moises spoke, smiled proudly. “That is the idea – understand your history and it puts the present into perspective,” said the Cuban intellectual.