MIAMI, United States. – Cuban director William Sabourin O’Reilly He was awarded with the Gol de Oro Grand Prize at the Millennium International Documentary Film Festival held in Belgium for his documentary Lazarus and the Shark: Cuba Beneath the Surface (Lázaro and the Shark: Cuba under the Surface), which addresses the issue of Santiago congas.
The festival jury highlighted that the film narrates “the daily history of the congas from Santiago and its most representative characters.”
Sabourin O’Reilly shared moments of the award ceremony on his Instagram account, where he thanked the famous Chinese artivist Ai WeiWei and the rest of the jury for the recognition. The filmmaker also thanked everyone involved and expressed his honor for receiving the main prize of the last edition of the Millennium International Documentary Film Festival.
During the event, which took place between March 26 and April 6, around 60 documentaries were screened. Zlatina Rousseva, Millenium’s artistic director, said in an interview with Belgian public broadcaster RTBF that many screenings were sold out and some films were even shown twice.
The Millennium International Documentary Film Festival focuses on documentaries that address “invisible realities” and everyday heroes.
At the end of last year, Sabourin O’Reilly denounced on social networks an incident in which the Cuban regime Police attacked musicians from the Conga de los Hoyos, one of the most prestigious in Santiago de Cuba. The director shared this information on his Instagram profile in December, urging his followers to stay tuned for more details.
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