Screen Cuba is honoured to welcome acclaimed Cuban actor Mirta Ibarra to participate in events at this year’s festival.

Mirta is internationally known for her roles in popular movies ‘Strawberry and Chocolate’ and ‘Guantanamera’, and she stars in ‘Up to a Point/Hasta cierto punto’ which is being screened this March. She also appears in ‘House for Swap/ Se permuta’ and Last Supper/La ultima cena’ being shown in this year’s Screen Cuba festival.

Last year in Havana Mirta received the National Film Award, the most prestigious annual award for contribution to culture in Cuba. The jury said she has performed “not only as an actor in iconic films since 1967, but also for her many roles in national cinema and culture, …the impact of her work on Cuban society, and her work preserving the legacy of Tomás Gutierrez Alea.”

In an interview last year with Cuban culture magazine La Jiribilla for International Womens Day, Mirta said “Although Cuban women have been gaining spaces in our society and demonstrating their ability to take on many responsibilities, no matter how difficult and complex they may be, achieving important and great conquests, there is still, however, much to be done.

“It is a reality that some things inherited from the past still persist, such as machismo and violence against women. And in that sense, cinema plays a very significant role in the creation of films that openly address these issues. Particularly in my case, I always enjoyed taking on transgressive, feminist characters.”

Most recently Mirta and actor/director Jorge Perugorría have presented at the Malaga Film Festival their new film, Anonymous Neurotic, a love letter to cinema. It is joint written by them, he is director and she stars in it. The film grew from a play Mirta wrote 10 years ago which featured Cuban actor Joel Angelino who also appears in the film.

The film tells the story of Iluminada, a woman who has worked for three decades as an usher at a cinema which is now due to close. She is married to an alcoholic man who has made her unhappy. The closure of the cinema forces her to face her own history, her neuroses and her unfulfilled dream of being an actor.