The important director and screenwriter of Cuban cinema, Juan Carlos Tabio, co-director of the film Strawberries and Chocolate, died at dawn on Monday, January 18, at the age of 77, according to a note from the portal Cubacine, which did not specify the cause of death.
The National Film Award in 2014, Juan Carlos is internationally recognized as one of the most remarkable and award-winning Cuban film directors of recent decades, with such important titles in his filmography Exchange (1983), Plaff or too scared of life (1988) and The elephant and the bicycle (1994).
It is particularly significant the co-direction he shared with Tomás Gutiérrez Alea in the multiple award Strawberries and chocolate (1993), which was even nominated for Oscars and Guantanamera (1995).
They also matter in their filmography Waiting list (2000), Even if you’re gone (2003), Cornucopia (2008) and directed “The Bitter Sweetness of Despair”, one of the stories in the feature film Seven days in Havana (2012). The latter, a choral show attended by other important international directors, especially the Spaniard Julio Medem, the French Laurent Cantet, the Argentine Pablo Trapero, the Palestinian Elia Suleiman and the Argentine-French Gaspar Noé.
Tabío’s filmography has been widely awarded inside and outside Cuba, Plaff obtained the Special Mention of the jury of the International Federation of Film Societies at the XIV Iberoamerican Film Festival in Huelva, Spain, in 1988, as well as the Third Choral Prize, the FIPRESCI Prize at the X International Festival of the New Latin American Cinema.
The Funny Comedy, which won actress Daisy Granados an award in Portugal and another in Paraguay, was also the Best New Film Award at the New York Latin Festival in 1989 and the Best Picture Award at the II Caribbean Film Festival, Fort de France, Martinique, 1990.
He Elephant and bicycle received a FIPRESCI mention at the 16th International Festival of New Latin American Cinema, was nominated for the Goya Award for Best Foreign Language Film, 1995, in Spain. He also won the Second Prize at the International Film Festival, Damascus, Syria and the Audience Award at the Brussels Festival, Belgium, in 1997.
Born in 1943, Juan Carlos Tabío began working at ICAIC in 1961 as a production assistant and later continued as an assistant director.
Between 1963 and 1980 he made over 30 documentaries, several of them awarded in various competitions. In 1983 he directed his first feature film, Swap, widely appreciated by the Cuban public, which won the third choral award at the VI International Festival of New Latin American Cinema.
Exchange and his second film, Plaff, remain the same two of the most important Cuban comedies of all time.
Waiting list in 2000 he received the French Ministry of Culture Award and was the Cinema-Forum Audience Award at the Cannes Film Festival.
Cornucopia, in the meantime, received the third choral award at the XXX International Festival of New Latin American Cinema in 2008 and also received the Special Jury Prize at the 49th Cartagena International Film Festival, Colombia, 2008, among others.
Between 1989 and 1990, Tabío was a screenwriter and film director at the San Antonio de los Baños International Film and Television School. In his extensive career, he has taught numerous writing, directing and drama workshops in various countries, including Mexico, Costa Rica and Panama.
UNEAC and other Cuban institutions echoed the news, with messages of regret for the enormous loss to Cuban culture caused by Tabío’s death, which adds to the recent death of film director Enrique Pineda Barnet, happened less than a week ago.
The mortal remains of Juan Carlos Tabío will be cremated and “in due course the end of the farewell will be reported to this director who thought in pictures and leaves us as a legacy an important career in Cuban cinema”, concludes the ICAIC note.
From his writing CiberCuba We send our condolences to the family of the prominent Cuban film director.