The New England Ibero American Film Festival is a ground breaking film festival dedicated to the promotion of the Hispanic culture through the exhibition of feature films, documentaries, shorts and animations, as well as through other artistic manifestations, which have been produced in Latin America, Spain and/or Portugal. NEFIAC's mission is to link the rich academic knowledge available in the New England region to the community at large. This Festival is also the only festival of its genre to offer Juried Awards on three categories: a Grand Jury Award to an emerging filmmaker for a feature film, a Jury Award for best documentary, and Jury Award for best short.
NEFIAC is hosted in the cities of Providence, Rhode Island (with the support of Brown University) and Williamsburg, Virginia (College of William & Mary).
The New England Ibero American Film Festival (NEFIAC) is organized principally for educational purposes. The intention and goals of the organization are:
Dr. Leonel P Limonte
(Brown University)
Annia Bu
(University of Connecticut)
Dr. Leonel P Limonte
(Brown University)
Yumey Besú Payo
(Young Filmmakers Showcase, Cuba)
Sara Vega Miche (La Habana, Cuba)is a writer and expert on Cuban cinema. Since 2003 she has been a member of the Steering Committee of the Young Filmmakers Showcase of the Instituto Cubano del Arte e Industria Cinematográficos (ICAIC) in Havana. She is also a curator and researcher at the Cuba Film Archive there.
Her writings have been published in several books about Cuban cinema, including, Coordenadas del cine cubano I y II, Carteles de cine cubano I, Carteles cubanos de cine, Imágenes de Cine: Eduardo Muñoz Bachs, Testimonios del diseño gráfico cubano 1959-1974, Encyclopedia of Cuba, Soy Cuba, and in cultural magazines such as Cuba Update, AGR, and Cine Cubano.
She co-wrote the documentary film Poética gráfica insular (2007).
She has lectured on Cuban cinema and Cuban film posters, curated poster exhibitions around the world and published three books on Cuban film posters: La otra imagen del cine cubano, Ciudadano cartel, and Carteles son… carteles del ICAIC.
Mónica Savirón (Spain) has worked as a film writer, editor, and programmer. Her essays have been published internationally. She directed a weekly radio show on documentary and experimental films in Madrid for ten years. In New York, she has worked on the legacy of experimental filmmaker Beryl Sokoloff; with preservationist and artist Bill Brand; and as creative associate, archival researcher, and assistant editor of the International Documentary Film Festival Grand Prize film, First Cousin Once Removed (2012). Her video To Begin With (2012) had its World Premiere at Experiments in Cinema Festival in Albuquerque, NM. Her film Broken Tongue (2013), a tribute to avant-garde poet Tracie Morris, had its World Premiere at the 52nd Ann Arbor Film Festival. Her work explores the cinematic possibilities of sound and avant-garde poetics.
Chaim Litewski (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) has been making films since his adolescence. He received his undergraduate and master's degree in London from the Polytechnic of Central London/Westminster University. His academic work dealt primarily with conflict and film propaganda. Some of his articles appeared in Sight and Sound, Screen, Image International and various other publications.
He has produced films for the British Film Institute’s Production Board, Channel Four, NBC, RAI (Italy) and many other international broadcasters. He was a news correspondent with Brazil’s Globo Television in London and an international news coordinator with Globo Television in Rio de Janeiro. Later he became the head of a public radio and television station in northeastern Brazil.
In 1991, Chaim joined United Nations Television in New York as a TV Producer, covering conflicts, humanitarian emergencies, and human rights stories in over 100 countries and producing dozens of news items, feature stories and documentaries. He has covered the Rwanda genocide, the South Asia tsunami, an earthquake in Pakistan, and wars in Central America, the Caucasus region, Central Asia, South Pacific, the Middle East and Africa.
He currently heads the United Nations Television Section. Chaim has participated in seminars, lectures and discussions about the role of media in modern society and organized various UN film festivals worldwide. He also produced and directed Citizen Boilesen, a feature documentary on the relationship between big business and paramilitary death squads in Brazil during the height of the country’s military dictatorship.
Chaim is serving as a juror in his personal capacity as a filmmaker.
The New England Festival of Ibero American Cinema would not be possible without the gratitude and cooperation of many institutions and individuals.
Feel free to ask any questions via email.
