Lubbock hosted the U.S. premier of “7 Días en la Habana.”
Screenwriter Leonardo Padura Fuentes brought the final version to Texas Tech, after premiering it in Spain at the San Sebastián International Film Festival.
“This little Lubbock, is going to be the first time it’s shown in the U.S. It’s a premier of sorts, so we’re really privileged that he’s here and we’re really happy that he accepted,” Jorge Zamora, associate professor at the College of Arts and Sciences, said.
It may strike some rather odd for a film following seven different people in communist Havana, Cuba to premier in Lubbock, but that didn’t deter Fuentes from bringing the movie to the Student Union Building’s, Escondido Theater where a full house awaited Tuesday night.
“This is now the final copy. Since there was the opportunity to participate, given the conferences in Lubbock and we had the final cut of the movie, this seemed like a great moment to present it in a non-commercial circuit,” Fuentes said in Spanish.
Zamora and Rodrigo Pereyra, a graduate student, organized the event to conclude their Hispanic Crime Fiction Conference.
Fuentes is more well known for his crime fiction novels, which have been translated into 10 different languages.
“Of authors we’ve brought, he is probably the best known internationally,” Zamora said.
Zamora has had Fuentes speak at some of his classes where Fuentes’ real goal lies.
“Yesterday in my first encounter with students I told them that with my visit I hope they would gain a curiosity to learn about the reality of Cuba,” Fuentes said. “If they leave with questions over the reality in Cuba I would feel very satisfied.”
Zamora knows that with Fuentes’ insight on Cuba, Fuentes’ goal won’t be hard to reach.
“He’s inside of Cuba and he is criticizing the system and the system is changing. If you want to know about what is going on in a country like Cuba, one of the best ways would be to read one of his novels,” Zamora said.
However, Zamora’s goal with the movie premier was a bit different from Fuentes’.
“A main part of our mission is to get people to know Texas Tech, because people know Texas but people don’t know Texas Tech as they should,” Zamora said.
Zamora later added that he also wanted to promote the crime fiction genre through the movie premier.
About Claudia Tristán
