Benicio del Toro, Laurent Cantet and Gaspar Noe Among 7 Filmmakers Spending ‘7 Days in Havana’

Helmers Laurent Cantet, Gaspar Noe, Pablo Trapero, Elia Suleiman, Julio Medem, Cuba’s Juan Carlos Tabio and Benicio del Toro are joining perhaps one of the rare omnibus projects worth mentioning. Finally a short film collage that is a bit more organic, 7 Days in Havana is said to be an inside “view of Cuba, introducing audiences to an eclectic young Havana and its music scene.” The project will be produced by Morena Films’ Alvaro Longoria, Fabien Pisani, Domehri, and Full House’s Gael Nouaille and Laurent Baudens. Variety reports that “Cuban novelist Leonardo Padura will coordinate screenplays, co-writing Medem’s and Tabio’s films. Cuban thesps Ana de Armas, Mirta Ibarra, Vladimir Cruz and Jorge Perugorria play linking characters.”

Gist: Del Toro will helm a sometimes fictionalized docu on a U.S. tourist’s first 24 hours in Cuba; Medem portrays a love triangle; Trapero tracks an actor who arrives in Havana to receive a prize; Suleiman has a foreigner, whom he will play, wandering through Havana, waiting for something to happen; Cantet chronicles a family’s offering to the ancient religion of Yoruba; Tabio looks at Cubans’ daily trials and joys; Noe follows an exorcism.

Worth Noting: This isn’t Del Toro’s debut as a filmmaker…he made a 1995 short film called Submission.

Do We Care?: Finally an omnibus that I actually want to see with a fusion of filmmakers who’ll essentially care about what each other contributes to the longer narrative. Think of Richard Linklater’s Slacker but with a better quality image and gorgeous backdrop.