Barquito de Papel Filmmakers’ Encounter Celebrates the Founding of TV Yumurí
The 17th «Barquito de Papel» (Paper Boat) Filmmakers’ Encounter brought together a large audience at the UNEAC Social House in Matanzas, interested in recognizing the work of the TV Yumurí Telecenter, through María Elena Bayón, the first director of the important Yumurino communications medium.
Organized and hosted by leading actress Fara Madrigal together with Margarita Oliva, of the Film, Radio, and Television Association, the event allowed for an appreciation of the Telecenter’s artistic continuity with the screening of the first fiction audiovisual short, by Karel Ricardo Roque and Leodán Fleitas.
It featured the performance of the Donaire group and the display of the exhibition «Barquitos al agua» (Little Boats to the Water), with works made by the girls and boys of designer Jesús Cabrera’s workshop.
In the segment dedicated to María Elena Bayón — also a journalist, writer, and producer of television and radio programs — an audiovisual was enjoyed, in which personalities of Matanzas culture expressed their opinion on the imprint of the intellectual and founder of TV Yumurí at the beginning of the new millennium.
That is when this Matanzas channel began in the country, with a collective made up of 60 enthusiastic creators and a new form of structural and productive management.
This was possible with the insertion of a schedule of more than 15 regular television programs from a small studio and with the experience of journalists Nelson Barrera, Ana Valdés, and Aurora López; programs broadcast by national TV, winners of national and international prizes, among them «Barquito de papel,» directed by Jesús del Castillo, and «Quédate conmigo» (Stay with Me), by Yudarys Berland.
The UNEAC member for more than 30 years highlighted the efforts of TV Yumurí’s continuity up to the present and the significance of its acceptance by the people, by being capable of showing reality in videos, as well as the grandeur and culture of the Matanzas people in all their facets.
Fara then asked for a few minutes to present recognitions to the creator, who arrived with one of her décimas and the interpretation of the story «La almohada azul» (The Blue Pillow), authored by the guest.
The tribute continued with artisan Luis Octavio Hernández, the Palacio de Junco museum, ARTEX, UNEAC, the Provincial Book and Literature Center and the «José Jacinto Milanés» Literary Promotion Center, and the current director of the Telecenter, Ángel Tápanes.
A special one was from Ediciones Vigía, presented by its director Agustina Ponce, consisting of a chapbook — a unique edition by designer Marialba Ríos — with the poem «Amanece el San Juan» (The San Juan Dawns), original by Bayón.
Present at the event were leading actress Miriam Muñoz, National Theater Prize winner; Osbel Marrero, provincial director of Culture, along with family members, friends, poets, and artists, plus the presence of founders and current workers of the Telecenter.
The host then invited those attending the 17th Filmmakers’ Encounter to the traditional launching of paper boats into the San Juan River, where a message from National Theater Prize winner René Fernández was read and the Atenas Brass Ensemble group performed.
They then headed to the Mederos gallery, where the distinguished artist also gifted one of his works to the honoree. There, the painter’s support for the productions of programs such as «Soy feliz» (I Am Happy) and «Barquito de papel,» created by Jesús del Castillo over many years, was emphasized.
