Foto di Santiago Álvarez
Regia

Santiago Álvarez

Professione
Regia
Nascita
18 marzo 1919 · Havana, Cuba
Morte
20 maggio 1998

Biografia

Santiago Álvarez Román (March 8, 1919 – May 20, 1998) was a Cuban documentary filmmaker and a central figure in revolutionary Latin American cinema. After studying in the United States, he returned to Cuba in the mid-1940s, where he worked as a music archivist for television and became active in Communist Party circles. Following the Cuban Revolution, he was a founding member of the Cuban Institute of Cinematographic Art and Industry (ICAIC) and went on to direct its influential weekly Latin American Newsreel, shaping a new model of politically engaged documentary production. Álvarez became internationally known for short films that combined found footage, photographs, animation, and music through rapid, associative editing—often described as “nervous montage.” His best-known works include Now! (1964), addressing racial discrimination in the United States; LBJ (1968), a satirical critique of U.S. imperialism; and 79 Springs (1969), a poetic tribute to Ho Chi Minh. In 1968, he collaborated with Fernando Solanas and Octavio Getino on The Hour of the Furnaces, a landmark four-hour documentary on neocolonialism and political struggle in Latin America. Across dozens of films, Álvarez documented music, culture, revolutionary movements, and authoritarian regimes throughout the Americas and beyond. His work influenced generations of political filmmakers, and he was later acknowledged by Jean-Luc Godard in Histoire(s) du cinéma. Álvarez died in Havana in 1998 from Parkinson’s disease and was buried in Colón Cemetery.

Noto per

Locandina di Now!
Now!
Film · 1965 · ★ 6,2
Locandina di 79 primaveras
79 primaveras
Film · 1969 · ★ 6,1
Locandina di LBJ
LBJ
Film · 1968 · ★ 5,9
Locandina di Hasta la Victoria Siempre
Hasta la Victoria Siempre
Film · 1967 · ★ 7,1
Locandina di Hanoi, martes 13
Hanoi, martes 13
Film · 1969 · ★ 6,6
Locandina di Muerte al invasor
Muerte al invasor
Film · 1962
Locandina di The Tiger Jumped and Killed But It Will Die, It Will Die
The Tiger Jumped and Killed But It Will Die, It Will Die
Film · 1973
Locandina di Mi hermano Fidel
Mi hermano Fidel
Film · 1977
Locandina di La Guerra Olvidada
La Guerra Olvidada
Film · 1967
Locandina di El sueño del pongo
El sueño del pongo
Film · 1970
Locandina di Ciclón
Ciclón
Film · 1964
Locandina di Cerro Pelado
Cerro Pelado
Film · 1966

Filmografia