By Carl DiOrio

The whole country of Cuba could use a coat of paint.
Paint, even nails at times, are among the items still in obvious short supply decades into the U.S. trade embargo, or "El Blockade," as Cubans call the grinding restrictions on commerce and travel. And best not to discuss the toilet-seat situation.
But Cuba is well-stocked with cinematic history, from features such as Humberto Solas' 1968 classic "Lucia" to documentaries from the likes of Julio Garcia Espinosa and Santiago Alverez, and even contemporary musicals such as Jorge Luis Sanchez’s mambo-manic biopic of the legendary Cuban singer Benny More.
The 30th annual Habana Film Festival -- or more formally the International Festival of New Latin American Cinema – is a many-splendored, if occasionally chaotic, event which taps into that history. "It's not very well organized," admitted Martin Escalante, co-writer of Mexican helmer’s "Los Bastardos," a crime drama about Mexican day laborers in Los Angeles directed and co-written by Amad Escalante.
Then he shrugged, as if to acknowledge the efforts of fest volunteers, and suggested it was perhaps unfair comparing the event to Cannes or other big fests.
Juan Carlos Godoy, a first-year student from Mexico attending Havana's renowned international film and TV school, said he believes the local fest is gaining stature due to cooperative agreements struck with higher-profile fests in recent years. "It's already a big festival, but it's growing," Godoy said.
On a previous visit to Havana, filmmaker Sanchez once shared with us the hope he might someday tap into Yankee capital for a Cuban-Hollywood co-production. For now, the co-prods included among 114 fest entries are more on the order of Pavel Giroud's modestly budgeted "Omerta," a Cuban-Spanish co-production that the young Cuban describes as an “ironic thriller” about gangsters' search for buried loot.
Giroud said he does forward to securing U.S. co-financing for future projects such as his "Emporio Havana," a period gangster film based on the local business exploits of Meyer Lansky and other American mobsters. He also wants to cast Americans but can't under current embargo policy. Like many here, he's hopeful the incoming U.S. administration could bring change to that policy as well as several others.
"(Barack) Obama's triumph also can bring back the cultural flow that was lost under the Republicans," Giroud said. "I wanted to attend festivals in San Francisco and Santa Barbara to receive film awards, but I couldn't because of the travel restrictions."