Sin La Habana is a Canadian-Cuban drama film, directed by Kaveh Nabatian and released in 2020.[1]

Sin La Habana
Directed byKaveh Nabatian
Written byKaveh Nabatian
Produced byGabrielle Tougas-Fréchette
Ménaïc Raoul
StarringYonah Acosta
Evelyn O’Farrill
Aki Yaghoubi
CinematographyJuan Pablo Ramírez
Edited bySophie Leblond
Music byKaveh Nabatian
Production
company
Voyelles Films
Distributed byMaison 4:3
Release date
  • October 7, 2020 (2020-10-07) (FNC)
Running time
94 minutes
CountriesCanada, Cuba
LanguagesSpanish
English
Persian

The film stars Yonah Acosta as Leonardo, a ballet dancer in Cuba who feels stifled and in need of emigration to another country to advance his career. He and his girlfriend Sara (Evelyn O’Farrill) devise a plan for the duo to get out of Cuba by having Leonardo seduce Nasim (Aki Yaghoubi), a tourist from Montreal, so that she will take him back to Canada with her and then he can send for Sara once he's settled in; however, both Leonardo and Sara are secretly also looking for ways to break off their relationship.[2]

The film premiered at the 2020 Festival du nouveau cinéma,[3] before going into commercial release in September 2021.[4]

Sin la Habana received positive reviews from film critics. It holds a 91% rating on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes[5] and was a New York Times Critic's Pick.[6]

Accolades

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Year Award Category Recipient(s) Result Ref.
2020 Festival du nouveau cinéma Prix de la diffusion Quebecor Kaveh Nabatian Won [7]
2021 Vancouver International Film Festival Best Canadian Film Won [8]
Directors Guild of Canada DGC Discovery Award Nominated [9]
Les Percéides Grand Prix du Jury Won [10]
Miami International Film Festival Jordan Ressler First Feature Award Nominated [11]
Reelworld Film Festival Standout Director Won [12]
Standout Writer Kaveh Nabatian and Pablo Herrera Won
Standout Cinematographer Juan Pablo Ramírez Won
Standout Actor Yonah Acosta Won
Standout Actress Aki Yaghoubi Won
2022 10th Canadian Screen Awards Best Original Screenplay Kaveh Nabatian Nominated [13]
John Dunning Best First Feature Award Kaveh Nabatian Nominated
24th Quebec Cinema Awards Best Film Ménaïc Raoul, Gabrielle Tougas-Fréchette Nominated
Best Director Kaveh Nabatian Nominated
Revelation of the Year Yonah Acosta Nominated
Best Screenplay Kaveh Nabatian Nominated
Best Editing Sophie Leblond Nominated
Best Sound Sylvain Bellemare, Laurent Ouellette, Hans Laitres Nominated
Best First Film Kaveh Nabatian Won [14]
Rendez-vous Québec Cinéma Prix Gilles-Carle Kaveh Nabatian Won [15]

References

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  1. ^ "Four films streaming till Oct. 31 as part of Festival du Nouveau Cinéma". Cult MTL, October 22, 2020.
  2. ^ Lorry Kikta, "Sin la Habana". Film Threat, March 8, 2021.
  3. ^ T'cha Dunlevy, "49th Festival du nouveau cinéma screens the best films from a strange year". Montreal Gazette, October 1, 2020.
  4. ^ André Duchesne, "Kaveh Nabatian : nous sommes tous des humains". La Presse, September 7, 2021.
  5. ^ "SIN LA HABANA". rottentomatoes.com. Retrieved 2022-02-07.
  6. ^ Claire Shaffer, [1]. New York Times
  7. ^ Amélie Revert, "«Atlantis», «Sin La Habana» et «Judy vs Capitalism» au palmarès du FNC". Métro, October 19, 2020.
  8. ^ Steve Newton, "Vancouver International Film Fest announces award winners". The Georgia Straight, October 13, 2021.
  9. ^ "TV & Film News – DGC reveals Discovery Award long list of emerging directors to watch". Broadcast Dialogue, September 23, 2021.
  10. ^ André Duchesne, "Sin La Habana couronné aux Percéides". La Presse, September 27, 2021.
  11. ^ "Miami Film Festival Announces 2021 Lineup With a Strong Latin American Selection". cinematropical.com. 4 February 2021. Retrieved 2022-02-07.
  12. ^ Richard Burnett, "Onscreen or onstage, fine arts grad Kaveh Nabatian entertains". Concordia News, November 24, 2021.
  13. ^ Brent Furdyk, "2022 Canadian Screen Award Nominees Announced, ‘Sort Of’ & ‘Scarborough’ Lead The Pack". ET Canada, February 15, 2022.
  14. ^ François Lévesque, "Hélène Florent aux oiseaux au Gala Québec Cinéma". Le Devoir, June 5, 2022.
  15. ^ "Les lauréats et lauréates des prix RVQC 2022".
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