Carlos Lechuga Díaz

Carlos Lechuga is a Cuban screenwriter and film director. He is one of the new filmmakers making their debut in the broad panorama of Cuban audiovisual production. He graduated with a degree in directing from the Audiovisual Media Arts program at the Instituto Superior de Arte, and later studied screenwriting at the International Film and Television School of San Antonio de los Baños.

His work as a director includes several short films such as Los bañistas and Cuca y el pollo (2005), which have won national and international awards. His film Melaza was the baptism by fire for this young filmmaker. Recently, his screenwriting skills were demonstrated in Penumbras, a film by Charlie Medina based on his adaptation of the work Penumbra en el noveno cuarto, by Cuban playwright Amado del Pino.

Influenced by the legacy of Humberto Solás and Juan Carlos Tabío, Carlos Lechuga is one of the members of Producciones 5ta Avenida. During his third year of studies, he began working alongside filmmaker Humberto Solás, who was interested in an urban story of contemporary characters that could be made on a low budget; a project that, although cut short by Solás's death, left Lechuga with valuable experience.

As a screenwriter, he has three feature films to his credit: Club Habana, winner of the Unpublished Screenplay Award at the International Festival of Poor Cinema; El edén perdido, winner of the Audience Award at the 1st. Festival of Films for Television in Málaga, Spain; and Penumbras, directed by Charlie Medina; among others.

With Melaza, his first film, he competed in 2012 in Rotterdam and won the Best Latin American Film Award in Málaga.

Santa y Andrés is an international co-production dramatic film from 2016 written and directed by Carlos Lechuga.1​

His second feature film Santa y Andrés had its world premiere in the Contemporary World Cinema section at the Toronto International Film Festival 2016.​ It was exhibited at film festivals in San Sebastián, Zurich, Chicago, Gothenburg, Miami, Cartagena and Guadalajara, among others. It was also initially selected for screening at the Havana Film Festival 2016, which in 2014 awarded its "Unproduced Screenplay" prize to the film's script, but was subsequently excluded by the Cuban Institute of Film Art and Industry. After being initially invited to the New York Havana Film Festival in April 2017, the film was relegated to a special screening, according to Variety, due to pressure from ICAIC, and then, as a sign of protest, was withdrawn by Lechuga.

Vicenta B, by Lechuga, a 37-year-old filmmaker, bears the name of the protagonist, a santería priestess from Havana with a special gift for seeing the future who enters into crisis when her only son decides to leave the country. This project received the Egeda award in 2021, which consists of 30,000 euros (about 35,000 dollars) for the film's main producer.

The film addresses the life of a santería priestess from Havana, Vicenta B, who sees people's futures, but enters into a crisis "that prevents her from seeing what is happening in her own life" when her son leaves the country, according to the synopsis. The film, Lechuga has said, is "the story of a country where there are many mothers and their children are not there."

His works have also been presented at art biennales in Havana, at ARCOmadrid, at the Reina Sofía Museum and at MOMA. He has worked with filmmakers such as Humberto Solás, Juan Carlos Tabío and Iciar Bollaín. He currently continues in Havana filming his new film Vicenta B and writes chronicles and interviews for several cultural magazines. En brazos de la mujer casada is his first book.

Awards and Recognition
Silver Hugo at the short film competition of the Chicago Film Festival for the short film Los bañistas.
First Mention at the Latin American Film Festival of Antwerp (Belgium) for the short film Los bañistas.
Awarded a Coral in Havana and recognized at the festivals in Chicago and Antwerp for his bittersweet humor short film Los bañistas.
Screenwriter Award for Club Habana (Jorge Herrera) at the Festival of Poor Cinema 2008
Audience Award at the First Festival of Films for Television in Málaga for Edén Perdido (Manuel Estudillo).
Monetary Prize from the Fund for the Promotion of Audiovisual Media of Central America and Cuba (CINERGIA) and from the Hubert Bals Foundation of the Rotterdam Festival.
Best Latin American Film at the Málaga Film Festival, Spain.

His debut film Melaza has received numerous awards at international festivals.

Special Jury Prize, Best Cinematography and Best Male Performance at the 12th Young Showcase ICAIC.
Special Jury Prize at the 11th Latin American Film Festival of Vancouver, Canada.
El Mégano Award at the International Festival of New Latin American Cinema (FINCL).
Best Film Award at the Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival, 2013.
Nomination for the Ariel Award from the Mexican Academy of Arts and Cinematographic Sciences.