Santiago Álvarez Photo

Santiago Álvarez

Directing

0.2 Popularity Mar 18, 1919 (79 years old) Havana, Cuba

He studied in the United States but in the mid-1940s returned to Cuba, where he worked as a music archivist in a television station and participated in Communist Party activities.[1] After the Cuban Revolution he became a founding member of the Cuban Film Institute (ICAIC) and directed its weekly La...

Biography

He studied in the United States but in the mid-1940s returned to Cuba, where he worked as a music archivist in a television station and participated in Communist Party activities.[1] After the Cuban Revolution he became a founding member of the Cuban Film Institute (ICAIC) and directed its weekly Latin American Newsreel.[2]

One of his most famous works, the short Now (1964) about racial discrimination in the US, mixed news photographs and musical clips featuring singer/actress Lena Horne. Other well-known works included the anti-imperialist satire LBJ (1968) and 79 Springs (1969), a poetic tribute to Ho Chi Minh. In 1968, he collaborated with Octavio Getino and Fernando E. Solanas (members of Grupo Cine Liberación) on the four-hour documentary Hora de los hornos, about foreign imperialism in South America.

Among the other subjects he explored in his films were the musical and cultural scene in Latin America and the dictatorships which gripped the region.

The second chapter of French director Jean-Luc Godard's Histoire(s) du cinéma is dedicated to Álvarez, amongst others.[3]

He died of Parkinson's disease in Havana on May 20, 1998 and was buried there in the Colon Cemetery.

Filmography 70

2019
Éter Movie

Sound

2010
Memória Cubana Movie

as Self (archive footage)

2002
Rocha Que Voa Movie

as Self (voice)

1989
1989
1987
Brascuba Movie

Writer

1987
Brascuba Movie

Director

1984
Coarse Salt Movie

as Horacio

1983
1983
1980
The Necessary War Movie

Director

1977
My Brother, Fidel Movie

Director

1977
My Brother, Fidel Movie

Writer

1977
El octubre de todos Movie

Director

1977
1976
1976

Photos 1

Santiago Álvarez Photo

Personal Details

Known For Directing
Gender Male
Birthday March 18, 1919 (79 years old)
Died May 20, 1998
Place of Birth Havana, Cuba
Years Active 1937 - 2019
Popularity 0.2
Career Stats
70 Total Credits
7 Movie Roles
1 Photos