BY MIREYA CASTANEDA -Granma International staff writer-

THREE films in the International Festival of New Latin American Cinema have all the makings of favorites for the Coral awards and the public. Mexican movie El crimen del padre Amaro (Father Amaro’s Crime) by Carlos Carrera; Argentine Adolfo Aristaarain’s Lugares Comunes (Common Places); and Frida, from U.S. director Julie Taymor.

Carrera’s El crimen del padre has become Mexico’s biggest box-office success and most controversial film, due to a story line that questions celibacy among the priesthood, church scandals and loss of faith.

The screenplay, written by Mexican Vicente Leñero, is based on the novel of the same name written in 1875 by Portuguese José María Eça de Queiroz. The leads are played by interesting actor Gael García Bernal and Spaniard Sancho Gracia - who took on the role of Father Benito after the death of his friend Paco Rabel, originally selected for it.

In 1994, 39-year-old director Carlos Carrera received the Cannes Palme d’Or award for his short EL HEROE (The Hero). He now demonstrates a skill for full-length features with his new film that has captured the attention of both critics and audiences; not solely for the controversial theme it deals with and the earthy love scenes between Father Amaro and devout teenager Amelia - wearing the Virgin Mary’s veil - but for its cinematic qualities.

Gael García Bernal in the lead role defended the movie, maintaining that it is a mirror in which Mexico is not used to viewing itself.

Argentine film director Adolfo Aristaraín - Tiempo de Revancha (Time for Revenge), Un lugar en el mundo (A Place in the World) - considers his latest film Lugares comunes to be his most personal work. He has described it as an honest and pure film that contains no “tricks” to try and capture audiences’ attention.

The leads in Lugares comunes are played by Federico Luppi, who is being honored at the Havana festival, and Spanish actress Mercedes Sampietro. The main story centers on the conflict that many Argentine families suffer when one of their members leaves the country in search of employment that cannot be found at home, a knotty story-line very much grounded in reality.

Aristaraín shot Lugares comunes four years after his awarded movie Martin (Hache), which received a Coral in the 1999 Havana Film Festival and also gave Celia Roth the award for best actress.

Salma Hayek, a Mexican actress who has made a career in Hollywood, is the leading spirit in producing and acting in Frida, a film that tells the story of important Mexican painter Frida Kahlo.

Hayek herself insisted that a woman direct the movie - Julie Taymor (The Lion King) was chosen - because it needed to have a female soul. Unfortunately the film has been shot in English only.

In various interviews, Hayek has explained that the film took seven years to make because everything was against it. She added that it isn’t easy to raise money in Hollywood for a movie about a person who was not particularly physically attractive, and who was in love with an overweight man, with both of them being Communists.

The Havana Festival may soon be coming to our screens but interest goes beyond the competition, in the search for the best Latin American and international movies.