About

Known credits:
68
Birthday:
1919-03-18
Place of birth:
Havana, Cuba
Website:
Click here

Santiago Álvarez

Overview

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.

Known for

Acting
2010 Memória Cubana Actor Self (archive footage) N/A
N/A
1999 Accelerated Under-Development: In the Idiom of Santiago Alvarez Actor Himself 59
Average
1984 Coarse Salt Actor Horacio 59
Average
1937 Towards Unity and Victory Actor N/A
N/A
Los Ojos de Santiago Actor N/A
N/A
El camino de Santiago: Periodismo, cine y revolución Actor Santiago Alvarez 59
Average

Directing
1989 Historia de una Plaza Directing Director N/A
N/A
1987 Brascuba Directing Director N/A
N/A
1983 Biografía de un carnaval Directing Director N/A
N/A
1980 The Necessary War Directing Director 59
Average
1977 My Brother, Fidel Directing Director 58
Average
1977 El octubre de todos Directing Director N/A
N/A
1976 Morir por la patria es vivir Directing Director N/A
N/A
1976 Maputo meridiano novo Directing Director N/A
N/A
1976 Luanda ya no es de San Pablo Directing Director N/A
N/A
1975 The First Delegate Directing Director 59
Average
1975 April in Vietnam in the Year of the Cat Directing Director 59
Average
1974 [Opening speech for the retrospective “Cuban Documentary Film”] [excerpt] Directing Director N/A
N/A
1974 The Four Bridges Directing Director N/A
N/A
1973 The New Tango Directing Director N/A
N/A
1973 La hora de los cerdos Directing Director N/A
N/A
1973 The Tiger Leaps and Kills, But It Will Die... It Will Die... Directing Director 59
Average
1973 And Heaven Was Taken by Storm Directing Director 59
Average
1972 I Am a Son of America Directing Director 58
Average
1971 The Stampede Directing Director N/A
N/A
1971 ¿Cómo, por qué y para qué se asesina un general? Directing Director 59
Average
1970 Piedra sobre piedra Directing Director N/A
N/A
1970 The Servant's Dream Directing Director 59
Average
1969 79 Springs Directing Director 59
Average
1969 Take-Off at 18:00 Hours Directing Director N/A
N/A
1969 Hanoi, Tuesday 13th Directing Director 59
Average
1969 Noticiero ICAIC Latinoamericano No. 466: Celebration of the VI Amateur World Series in the Dominican Republic. Cuba-USA Final. Directing Director N/A
N/A
1968 Noticiero ICAIC Latinoamericano, No. 422 Directing Director N/A
N/A
1968 LBJ Directing Director 59
Average
1967 Hasta la Victoria Siempre Directing Director 59
Average
1967 The Forgotten War Directing Director 59
Average
1966 Año 7 (Noticiero No. 290) Directing Director N/A
N/A
1966 Cerro Pelado Directing Director 59
Average
1966 Abril de Girón Directing Director N/A
N/A
1965 Solidaridad Cuba y Vietnam Directing Director N/A
N/A
1965 Now! Directing Director 59
Average
1964 Cyclone Directing Director 59
Average
1962 Muerte al invasor Directing Director 58
Average
1962 Crisis en el Caribe Directing Director N/A
N/A
1960 Noticiero ICAIC Latinoamericano Directing Director N/A
N/A

Writing
1989 Historia de una Plaza Writing Writer N/A
N/A
1987 Brascuba Writing Writer N/A
N/A
1983 Biografía de un carnaval Writing Writer N/A
N/A
1977 El octubre de todos Writing Writer N/A
N/A
1977 My Brother, Fidel Writing Writer 58
Average
1976 Maputo meridiano novo Writing Writer N/A
N/A
1976 Luanda ya no es de San Pablo Writing Writer N/A
N/A
1975 The First Delegate Writing Writer 59
Average
1973 The New Tango Writing Writer N/A
N/A
1973 The Tiger Leaps and Kills, But It Will Die... It Will Die... Writing Writer 59
Average
1970 The Servant's Dream Writing Screenplay 59
Average
1969 79 Springs Writing Writer 59
Average
1969 Take-Off at 18:00 Hours Writing Writer N/A
N/A
1969 Hanoi, Tuesday 13th Writing Writer 59
Average
1966 Abril de Girón Writing Writer N/A
N/A
1965 Solidaridad Cuba y Vietnam Writing Writer N/A
N/A
1962 Crisis en el Caribe Writing Writer N/A
N/A

Production
1962 Crisis en el Caribe Production Producer N/A
N/A
1960 Carnival Production Production Manager 59
Average
1959 El Tomate Production Producer 59
Average

Sound
2019 Éter Sound Sound N/A
N/A

Crew
1960 Noticiero ICAIC Latinoamericano Crew Script N/A
N/A

Editing
1962 Muerte al invasor Editing Editor 58
Average