Cuban Filmmakers Assembly Proposes Luis Alberto García for National Film Prize

March 10, 2024

The Cuban Filmmakers Assembly (ACC), a professional organization that brings together thousands of artists from the island, proposed actor Luis Alberto García Novoa as a candidate for the National Film Prize in its annual call.

"With transparency, using the ACC's WhatsApp space, many shared their considerations. Sixty artists and technicians from a wide spectrum of specialties, as well as film scholars were nominated," the statement explains.

According to the organization's statement, Luis Alberto García Novoa was selected after receiving the highest number of votes. "This proposal has already been delivered to ICAIC, as required by the award's regulations," explains the publication made by the guild on its social networks.

"Our Assembly, faithful to its inclusive nature, believes that the National Film Prize should be open to all Cuban filmmakers regardless of their place of residence," the text adds.

Likewise, the group asserts that sending this proposal does not mean they disqualify or will not recognize the result of the final call, since ultimately whoever is honored with the prize will be a member of the filmmaking community "and that is what is truly essential."

On the other hand, the group defended the legitimacy of the exercise carried out: "Our existence is legitimate and our vote becomes a new exercise in civism and coherence."

Finally, the ACC shared a list with other proposals for the prize, which included other prestigious artists, researchers, and technicians working in the sector.

It would be difficult to talk about Cuban cinema without mentioning artist Luis Alberto García Novoa, who has impressed with his virtuosity and social commitment before and behind the cameras.

He is one of the most prominent figures in Cuban cinematography in recent decades, with appearances in all media and in the most diverse genres, from lyrical acting to comedy, to crime thrillers and dramas.

It suffices to mention his roles in the famous Cuban films Clandestinos, Plaff or En tres y dos, between 1986 and 1990, masterpieces of the island's cinematography. But his work did not stop with the great productions of the past; more recently, he took part in Cuba Libre, in Guantanamera, in Zafiros, locura azul, in Un paraíso bajo las estrellas, in Hacerse el sueco and in La vida es silbar, and that was only until 2000.

In the new century, he continued to add successes to his artistic career, with Santa Camila de La Habana Vieja, Perfecto amor equivocado, Boleto al paraíso, Habanastation, and other films, in addition to having roles in short films by Eduardo del Llano, and portraying Dominican dictator Rafael Leónidas Trujillo in the series El grito de las mariposas.