Cuban film director Juan Carlos Tabío, author of important films such as Swap (1983), Plaff (1988) and Waiting list (1999), died on Monday, January 18, in Havana, at the age of 77, according to the Union of Cuban Writers and Artists (UNEAC) in their social networks.
The Cuban Institute of Film Arts and Industry (ICAIC) also mourned Tabío’s death, which he described as “part of the transcendent work of Cuban cinema and the history of the nation.”
Among his most recognized works is also Strawberries and chocolate (1993) and Guantanamera (1995), both directed with Tomás Gutiérrez Alea.
Tabío, winner of the National Film Award in 2014, began his career at ICAIC in 1961 as a production assistant and later worked as an assistant director.
Between 1963 and 1980 he made over 30 documentaries and worked on the screenplay for several plays. In 1989 he joined the San Antonio de los Baños International Film and Television School as a teacher, where he taught screenwriting and directing.
His last work was one of the stories that make up the film Seven days in Havana (2011), which was also attended by directors such as Julio Medem, Benicio del Toro, Lauren Cantet, Elia Suleiman, Gaspar Noé and Pablo Trapero.
Many Cuban directors and artists have expressed their condolences on social networks.
“With just a few of his short films or films like that Exchange A Plaff he is already in the Olympus of the best of Cuban comedy. You need to see again The elephant and the bicycle. There are many keys hidden in that work. Juan Carlos Sr., the goal you leave behind is extraordinary. You locked it and took the key in your jacket, along with the box of cigars and guapería, “said director Carlos Lechuga.
“(…) Of his race are Saúl Yelín’s chair, José María Vitier’s piano and Luis García Mesa’s sadness in a corner of Ocean Drive. Everything else, no matter how deep, came later. He didn’t it needs light for the road: it was the lamp, one of them, maybe the last. There is not a single antique dealer in Cuban cinema able to repair it “, wrote Juan Pin Vilar.
“A very talented director. His brilliant comedies (with excellent screenplays) are played with folklore, but they are not exactly folkloric; there is more chicha there and that makes them special. I always thought he was” the king of comedy full of rage “” Manuel Marzel said on her social media.
The official portal Cubacine He reported that his body would be cremated and would later report “goodbye to this man who thought in pictures and left us an important career in the Cuban film industry.”