Icaro Film Festival Hits El Salvador Despite Competition From New York Counterpart

The New York Film Festival currently dominates any film buff’s agenda. However, that’s not to say that there are no other splendors to celebrate in the film community until October 12. In fact, just 3,000 miles south of New York, the 16th annual Icaro Central American Film and Video Festival opened yesterday in El Salvador with the screening of recently released Salvadoran films.

According to the Prensa Latina, Leticia Giron, member of the organizing committee, said that the main objective of the festival is to gather and promote regional work in film and video. She added that the festival has quickly become a grand celebration where Salvadoran producers, directors and screenplay writers present their work to an international jury who then decide which pieces will be displayed at the Guatemala International Festival, the international Icaro.

Among the jury members this year is Cuban actor and director Jorge Molina, professor at the San Antonio de los Baños International Film and Television School and Higher Institute of Art. He’s also highly regarded in his country for his performance in the Cuban film “Juan de los Muertos,” or “Juan of the Dead.”

During the opening ceremony, the documentary “El engaño,” or “The Deceit,” by Florence Jaugey was screened alongside a short animation by Salvadoran director Pilar Colome called “Yoselin y el coyote,” or “Yoselin and the Coyote.” “El engaño” documents the lives of women who are victims of human trafficking.

Although the pieces submitted to the festival should be garnered equally to those in the New York Film festival, due to the relatively unknown names, difficulty to obtain resources and brevity of the Icaro, which ends this Saturday, September 28, the festival remains hidden under the heavy blanket of its brother in New York. That’s not to say by any means that the films are inadequate in comparison. Many would likely stack up swimmingly next to their New York counterparts. So let’s not forget that while the big dogs play, there’s still plenty of beauty to be seen across the globe.