Overall, the very first AhíNamá! Festival of Contemporary Cuban Documentaries was a great success and there is certainly a great deal of interest in the work carried out by Canal Documental TV.

On a personal level, it was an exhilarating experience.  Having never organised anything like this before and not having an extensive network in film or the Latin American community here in London, I was learning on the job at every stage.  This naturally lead to some very close calls and a few more grey hairs! As such, I have to thank Julio Osorio for helping me with the translation on two of the documentaries; Owen Williams for showing me Avid and letting me loose on it with the subtitling and moreover for his amazingly speedy subtitling AND for staying up till 5.00am finishing the last export AND his overall support for the project since day 1; W.S. Bartlett for his flyer design and general paitience with me and also his overall support since the very beginning; Allix Harrison-Darcy for being the “on-call technician” for the screenings and for all the tea; Stephen Hart, for being the resident expert on all things Cuban on the final night and for his support for the project in general; and finally me Dad, who was downright supportive and a veritable port of calm and the voice of reason during some of the more stressful moments. Tar very much guys for being so wonderful

Of course, such a hands-on experience is the best way to learn and I am very, very excited to start planning the next AhiNama! Screenings of Contemporary Cuban Documentaries with the many new people I have met and with all that I have learnt.

I hope that you’ll remeber to pop back here from time to time to see what new projects and collaborations are underway.

Ciao for now peeps and thanks again

KT Watson

El Comandante, 10 Annette Road, Holloway, London, N7 6ET

7pm-11pm, Thursday 8th October 2009

Contact KT Watson: 07917 385 023

Program:

Screening: 7:30pm – 10pm

Proposals Accepted (Se Aceptan Proposiciones), 26 mins, Family Package (Paquete Familiar), 13 mins,”Burrito” (El Burrito) 15 mins, The Inventor (El Invento) 8 mins, The Big Sweat (Sudando la Gota Gorda) 9 mins

And then stick around for some drinks at this intimtae venue and enjoy the good vibes

Ronnie’s Bar (Above Ronnie Scott’s), 42 Frith Street, Soho, London, W1D 1HT

6pm-late, Friday 9th October, 2009

Contact KT Watson: 07917 385 023

Screening: 6pm-8pm

Program:Proposals Accepted (Se Aceptan Proposiciones), 26 mins, Family Package (Paquete Familiar), 13 mins,”Burrito” (El Burrito) 15 mins, The Inventor (El Invento) 8 mins, The Big Sweat (Sudando la Gota Gorda) 9 mins

In association with VivaLaRevolution UK, there will be live music till late at this iconic club in the heart of London’s Soho.

The Regent, 101 Liverpool Rd, Islington, London, N1 1LX

7:30pm – 12pm, Saturday 10th October 2009

Contact KT Watson: 07917 385 023

Screening: 7:30pm-10pm

Program:Proposals Accepted (Se Aceptan Proposiciones), 26 mins, Family Package (Paquete Familiar), 13 mins,”Burrito” (El Burrito) 15 mins, The Inventor (El Invento) 8 mins, The Big Sweat (Sudando la Gota Gorda) 9 mins

With guest speakers Stephen Hart (professor of Latin America Studies), Vladimir Smith (Brtish Cultural Heritage Foundation) and members of the Latin American Youth Forum and I.R.M.O. We round up the AhiNama! Festival of Contemporary Cuban Documentaries with an acoustic set from Riccardo y David and more good vibes.

Look forward to seeing you there

As ever, thanks,

KT Watson

Click here to reserve your place

If you have any queries about the event, or would like to offer your support as an individual, group or organisation, please get in touch!

ahinamafestival@gmail.com

Many thanks as always for your ongoing interest and support.

Thanks!

KT Watson

Event details are as follows:

7.00pm-11pm: Thursday 8th October at El Commandante, Holloway, N7 6ET

6.30pm-8.30pm: Friday 9th October at Ronnie’s Bar, Soho, W1 1HT

7.00pm-11pm: Saturday 10th October at The Regent, Islington, N1 1LX

Thanks as ever to all those supporting the project.

We have also spoken with El Commandante about hosting one of the nights and they have kindly offered their support; providing there isn’t a home fixture on at the Emirates stadium.

Created in August 2007, CanalDocumental TV is an independent online TV channel, dedicated to documentary cinema. Although the ultimate goal for the channel is to host an international body of documentary works, at present it’s made up of directors and works from Cuba and documentaries about Cuba.

CanalDocumental came about in response to the need for young Cuban directors to distribute their work. The indie documentaries made in Cuba don’t have access to international distribution. Thus, despite much interest in this kind of work it’s very hard to gain access to it.

CanalDocumental TV is based on new concepts of distribution of content such as Web 2.0 and many of the best functionalities of the Internet, such as video streaming. Furthermore, it provides a space marked by the need to bring about new forms of expression that are more free and open to participation and dialogue.

In 2008, CanalDocumental TV had more than 19.000 monthly hits. Visitors to the site mostly come from Spain, United States, Mexico, Cuba, Venezuela, Chile, Argentina and Germany. Furthermore, the channel’s web bulletin attracts, weekly, more than 3.000 subscribers, mostly from the audiovisual and cultural world.

The objective for the future of CanalDocumental TV is to host an online exhibition of independent documentaries that have been made with little resources and which have been made in the Caribbean and Latin America.