Coral Cocktail, one more cheer for Latin American films in Havana

The International Latin American Film Festival of Havana has recently added one more accolade to its 45 years of history: the Coral Cocktail, recently created by local barman Ahmed Mesa and winner of a prize today at Cuba’ s Hotel Nacional.

According to the event’s organizers, this drink will now be part of the hotel’s menu, as a tribute to the Havana film festival, celebrating its 45th edition in 2024, and still resorting to corals to sculpt its cinematic awards.

The cocktail contest jury was made up of the president of the Association of Bartenders of Cuba, Miguel Marcos Pérez, and other members of its board such as Nadia Palacios and Alejandro Fleites, joined by Manuel Menéndez, head waiter at the Hotel’s gardens.

Also attending the contest were Dayana Calzadilla, Nubia Montes and Ernesto Soler, all three workers of the iconic facility, which year after year since 1979 has hosted a number of guests of the international film show.

“As I sought to link my drink to the film festival, I used seven ingredients, including Havana Club seven years and pineapple juice”, Mesa explained.

The Coral Prize is the award given to the winning works in the different sections in competition at the festival, which in 2024 will run from December 5 through 15.

For the 45th edition, a total of 2,017 works were registered and 256 were finally selected, from 45 countries, 21 of them in Latin America, the event’s director Tania Delgado explained.

The Argentine film “Los domingos mueren más personas” will open the festival on December 5, at the Charles Chaplin Theater.