song with an uninterrupted sequence of images depicting racial discrimination in the U.S.. Animation has also been a major highlight in the last decades. In 1974, Juan Padrón gave birth to Elpidio Valdés, a character that represents a mambí fighter, struggling for Cuban independence against the Spanish occupation in the 19th century. It is very popular among Cuban children. Another great success of Cuban animation was the full-length film Vampiros en La Habana (1983), also by Juan Padrón. Essential in the history of Cuban cinema is the Noticiero ICAIC Latinoamericano (Latin-American ICAIC News) whose first director was Alfredo Guevara. Years later it was directed by Santiago Álvarez and the Mexican Rodolfo Espino, the most successful documentary maker in the island. In 1979 the ICAIC played a key role in the creation of the Festival Internacional del Nuevo Cine Latinoamericano (International Festival of New Latin American Cinema) allowing Latin American films a more international audience. The festival is one of the most important of its type in Latin America and has been held in Havana every year since 1979. There is also an international cinema university, the Escuela Internacional de Cine, Televisión y Video de San Antonio de los Baños (International School of Cinema, Television and Video of San Antonio de los Baños) located in San Antonio de los Baños near Havana, on land donated by the Cuban government and supported by the Fundación del Nuevo Cine Latinoamericano, Gabriel García Márquez and the Father of the New Latin American Cinema, Fernando Birri. Hundreds of young students from all over Latin America have studied direction, script, photography and edition. The contribution of the ICAIC, which was rapidly positioned as the head of a process aiming for legitimate artistic values and expression of nationality, is not limited only to the support in producing and promoting a movement that spanned fiction, documentary and animation, but also allowed for the exhibition and spread of popular knowledge of the best of cinema from all over the world. It also created the film archives of the Cinemateca de Cuba, and took part in initiatives such as Cinemóviles, which made cinema available on the most intricate sites of the national geography. The institution also helped developing the Cuban poster, as a mean of promoting films. It gave birth between 1969 and 1977, to the Grupo de Experimentación Sonora, which influenced Cuban music to a great extent, serving as