"CASA BLANCA" WINS MARGARET MEAD FF
Last weekend ended Margaret Mead Film Festival in New York City. The main award went to Aleksandra Maciuszek for her film "Casa Blanca."
The latest edition of the event Margaret Mead Film Festival was held in the American Museum of Natural History from October 13 to 16. Within the frames of the festival, 44 films from 50 countries of the world were shown this year. Among them, there was the documentary film "Casa Blanca" by Aleksandra Maciuszek that won the main award at the festival. The director received Margaret Mead Filmmaker Award in New York City. The jury of the competition included the founder and director of Cinema Tropical Carlos A. Gutiérrez, the director of the film “Citizenfour” Kirsten Johnson, the cultural anthropologist in Princetown Carolyn Rouse, the programme director of the festival DOC NYC Basil Tsiokos and the anthropologist from MIT, Christine Walley.
The eponymous "Casa Blanca" is a small fishing village on the Bay of Havana. Nelsa (76) and her son Vladimir (37), suffering from the Down's syndrome, share a small room in a overcrowded multi-family tenement house. Vladimir is the sole guardian of the ailing Nelsa, Nelsa - the only guardian of Vladimir, who easily gets into trouble. Their life is characterised by conflicts: the woman tries to control the son, while he, rather than being with his mother, prefers to spend time with the fishermen, helping them in their work, frolicking and drinking rum. Every day, Nelsa has to traverse the streets of Casa Blanca in search of her only son, who does not return home until late. One day, the woman's heath deteriorates.
You can find more information about the festival here.