Basilia Mirtha Ibarra Collado

Cuban actress of theater, television, and cinema.

She was born in the small town of San José de las Lajas, 30 km southeast of La Habana. She studied at the National School of Arts of Cuba and graduated in Latin American Literature from the University of La Habana.

She began her acting career in 1967 in various theatrical companies. Her work in theater was especially celebrated for roles in plays such as Week-end en Bahía and Tiene la palabra el camarada mauser. Her work in Cuban television is much more modest, despite undeniable success in the telenovelas Pasos hacia la montaña and El hombre que vino con la lluvia.

The characters interpreted by Mirta Ibarra in Cuban cinema reflect the professional maturity of this actress, who in 1983 captivated the audience with the undeniable performance of the protagonist in Hasta cierto punto, a film directed by Tomás Gutiérrez Alea, for which she received the Coral Prize for Best Actress at the International Festival of New Latin American Cinema.

The year 1993 brings her the success of the film Fresa y chocolate. The Latin American Film Festival distinguishes her once again with another Coral Prize, this time for Best Supporting Actress, for the character of Nancy.

Fresa y Chocolate, directed by Titón and Juan Carlos Tabío, marked the beginning of a collaboration between the two filmmakers that repeats in 1995, where both direct her again in Guantanamera. After the death of Gutiérrez Alea, Mirta realizes two other film projects with Tabío: Aunque estés lejos and El cuerno de la abundancia.

She has been a member of juries at several international film festivals, including the one in San Sebastián.

From 2000 to 2001 she toured Spain with her work Obsesión habanera, which she authored and in which she acts.

In 2008 she made the documentary, Titón: de La Habana a Guantanamera, a biography of her late husband, filmmaker Tomás Gutiérrez Alea (1928-1996). She resides in the Havana neighborhood of Miramar, in the house she shared with Gutiérrez Alea.

Theatrical Performances
Week-end en Bahía
Tiene la palabra el camarada Mauser

TV Series Participation
Pasos hacia la montaña
El hombre que vino con la lluvia
1993: Shiralad: el regreso de los dioses, as Layla, the forest sorceress.
2002: La verdad de Laura, as Teresa
2005: Obsesión, as Nico's mother.

Filmography
1976: La última cena, by Tomás Gutiérrez Alea.
1983: Se permuta, by Juan Carlos Tabío.
1983: Hasta cierto punto, by Tomás Gutiérrez Alea.
1986: Otra mujer, by Daniel Díaz.
1986: Plácido, by Sergio Girale.
1988: Cartas del parque, by Tomás Gutiérrez Alea.
1990: Mujer transparente, by Mayra Vilasís.
1991: Adorables mentiras, by Gerardo Chijona.
1992: El triángulo, by Rebeca Chávez.
1993: El plano, by Julio García Espinosa.
1993: Fresa y chocolate, by Tomás Gutiérrez Alea and Juan Carlos Tabío.
1993: Golpes a mi puerta, by Alejandro Saderman.
1995: Guantanamera, by Tomás Gutiérrez Alea and Juan Carlos Tabío.
1996: Ilona llega con la lluvia, by Sergio Cabrera.
1998: Mararia, by Antonio Betancourt.
1998: Cuarteto de La Habana, by Fernando Colomo.
1999: Sobreviviré, by Alfonso Albacete and David Menkes.
1999: Ruleta, by Roberto Santiago.
2000: Sagitario, by Vicente Molina Foix.
2000: Quia, by Silvia Munt.
2003: Aunque estés lejos, by Juan Carlos Tabío.
2008: El cuerno de la abundancia, by Juan Carlos Tabío.
2013: La partida, by Antonio Hens.
2016 Bailando con Margot. Director Arturo Santana Vilá.

Awards and Recognition
Distinction for National Culture, awarded by the Council of State of the Republic of Cuba. La Habana, 1996.
Adorables mentiras. Female Acting Prize. VIII Damascus Film Festival, 1993.
Adorables mentiras. Best Female Acting in Cinema (ex aequo). *Contest of the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba. La Habana, 1992.
Fresa y Chocolate. Coral Prize for Best Supporting Actress. XV International Festival of New Latin American Cinema. La Habana, 1993.
Fresa y Chocolate. Best Supporting Actress Prize. Contest of the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba. La Habana, 1994.
Fresa y Chocolate. Best Supporting Actress Prize. International Film Festival of Gramado. Brazil, 1994.
Hasta cierto punto. Ovidio Prize for Acting. Sulmona Cinema, Italy, 1986.
Hasta cierto punto. Coral Prize for Best Female Acting. V International Festival of New Latin American Cinema. La Habana, 1983.
Otra mujer. Best Female Acting in Cinema Prize. Contest of the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba. La Habana, 1987.
Oya Ayawa. Best Female Acting Prize. V Monologue Festival. La Habana, 1992.
Tema para Verónica. Hermanos Saiz Brigade Prize for Best Female Acting. National Theater Festival. La Habana, 1982.
Tema para Verónica. Caimán Barbudo Prize for Best Female Acting. National Theater Festival. La Habana, 1982.
ACTUAR Prize for Lifetime Achievement awarded by the Artistic Agency of Performing Arts ACTUAR in 2019.

She is the author of the book Volver sobre mis pasos; a compilation of letters written by Titón, where the filmmaker reveals conflicts, concerns, and reflections about his work at ICAIC, and the social and political context that marked his cinematographic work.

She now works with all her resources on a film script and on one of her most cherished occupations: the promotion and dissemination of the entire work of Tomás Gutiérrez Alea, Titón, her life companion for 23 years. Ibarra reveals to us the creation of the Tomás Gutiérrez Alea Audiovisual Promotion and Research Center, in a house ceded to her by the Office of the Historian of La Habana, with the consent of the Ministry of Culture, to deposit all of Titón's work and promote its research. The Center will have a room for screenings, debates, and discussions about films. We intend to grant scholarships and awards and make all of that available to the community. From Titón I have his unpublished papers from the 1950s until his death; letters he sent and that were sent to him by various personalities such as Robert Redford, the Goytisolo brothers, Carlos and Antonio Saura, Alfredo Guevara, Julio García Espinosa… The Center will be located on Paula street, a magical place.