The 43rd edition of the New Latin American Film Festival concluded Friday in Havana with the recognition that it continues to be a safe harbor for international filmmaking.

The closing gala at the Charles Chaplin cinema began with the presentation of an Honorary Coral Award to Cuban singer-songwriter Silvio Rodriguez, and the words of argument for the recognition by the National Film Award winner Manuel Perez.

On the big screen, images of the history of Cuban cinematography were shown, impregnated with the music and songs of the founder of the New Cuban Trova Movement, which were accompanied by the prolonged applause of the audience.

The troubadour said he accepted the award on behalf of his absent colleagues of the Sound Experimentation Group of Icaic (Cuban Institute of Cinematographic Arts and Industry) and cited an extensive list, including Pablo Milanés, Sergio Vitier, Noel Nicola, Emiliano Salvador and Eduardo Ramos.

With the invitation to enjoy "cinema in a big way", a slogan that accompanied the Festival, Havana welcomed during these days more than 100 films in competition, in addition to a varied proposal of presentations and collateral activities.

According to the organizing committee, the jurors received more than 2,000 films from all countries of the continent, especially Argentina, Mexico and Brazil, from which they also chose to integrate the Latin America in Perspective exhibition and the Special Presentations section.

The program included a theoretical event that paid tribute to Cuban filmmaker Nicolás Guillén Landrián with the screening of a documentary by Ernesto Daranas dedicated to his work and the analysis of the audiovisual Inside Downtown (2001), made by Nicolás himself in the United States.

The collateral agenda included the exhibition of Restored Classics, International Contemporary Panorama, an exhibition of 30 posters by artists from 11 countries and editorial launches by the Cuban Institute of Cinematographic Art and Industry.

Founded on December 3, 1979 by Cuban filmmaker Alfredo Guevara and attended by more than 600 Latin American filmmakers, the event's highest award is the Grand Coral Award, symbolizing the wide reefs of the Caribbean Sea.