Gerardo Chijona Valdés

Filmmaker and film critic. In 1974, he graduated with a degree in English Language and Literature from the University of La Habana and began working at the Cinematographic Information Center of ICAIC. He started as a film critic, collaborating for several years in different specialized publications such as the newspaper Granma and the magazine Cine Cubano. He served as assistant director in several Cuban feature films until he moved on to directing documentaries, for which he received numerous national and international awards.

His first fiction feature film was Adorables Mentiras, a co-production of ICAIC and TVE (Spanish Television). Before the beginning of pre-production, Chijona was invited by Robert Redford to the Sundance Institute for one month, where he participated in two workshops: screenwriting and directing under the mentorship of writers such as Christopher Hampton, Matthew Robbins, Ring Lardner Jr, Walter Bernstein and directors such as Sydney Pollack, Oliver Stone and James Brooks.

FILMOGRAPHY
1976
Río Negro (Assistant Director)

1979
Retrato de Teresa (Assistant Director)

1981
Leyenda (Assistant Director)

1983
Canto a la vida (Assistant Director)

1984
Habanera (Assistant Director)
Una vida para dos (Doc. 18´)
Los bebitos de Bebito (Doc. 8´)

1985
Cuando termina el baile (Doc. 10´)

1986
Ella vendía coquitos (Doc. 19´)

1987
Kid Chocolate (Doc. 20´)

1988
El desayuno más caro del mundo (Short Fiction 15´)

1991
Adorables mentiras (Fiction 108´)

1999
Un paraíso bajo las estrellas (Fiction 90´)

2003
Perfecto amor equivocado (Feature Film Fiction)

Summary / Filmography / Awards / Contact / Top

Awards and Recognition
Adorables mentiras: Golden Colón (ex aequo). Ibero-American Film Festival of Huelva, Spain, 1992.
Coral Prize for Best Screenplay (Senel Paz): XIII International Festival of New Latin American Cinema, La Habana, 1991.
El Quijote Prize, awarded by the International Federation of Film Clubs (FICC), XIII International Festival of New Latin American Cinema, La Habana, 1991.
Caracol Prize for Best Direction and Screenplay: Festival of the Cinema, Radio and Television Section of UNEAC, 1991.
APCLAI Prize (Associazione per la Promozione de Cultura Latinoamericana in Italia) for Best Screenplay and Best Set Design. VII Latin American Film Festival, Trieste, Italy, 1992.
Golden Mikeldi Prize, XXXIV International Documentary Film Festival, Bilbao, Spain, 1992.
Selected among the best films exhibited of the year, 1992.
Female Performance Prize for Mirta Ibarra and Isabel Santos, Section of Performing Arts (UNEAC), 1992.
Prize for Best Cinematography. Film Festival of Non-Aligned and Developing Countries, Pyongyang, D.P.R.C., 1994.
First Prize at the Peñiscola Film Festival, Spain, 1993.
Cuando termina el baile
Significant Film of the Year. Annual Selection of Film Critics, La Habana, Cuba, 1987.
Mention (Cinema). July 26 Contest of the Union of Journalists of Cuba (UPEC), La Habana, Cuba, 1986.
El desayuno más caro del mundo
Mention II Caribbean Images Festival, Fort de France, Martinique, 1990.
Golden Toucan, 1st. First Prize (awarded by the public) shared. V International Film Festival of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 1988.
Significant Film of the Year. Annual Selection of Film Critics, La Habana, Cuba, 1988.
Mention in documentary genre. V National Festival of UNEAC, La Habana, 1988.
Grand Prize and Diploma for Best Documentary Film XX Festival of Work Protection and Hygiene, Moscow, USSR, 1990.
Caracol Prizes for cinematography (Raúl Rodríguez) and soundtrack (Edesio Alejandro, Roberto Bravo and Jorge Chijona) of a documentary work.
Ella vendía coquitos
Third Caracol Prize for Direction. III UNEAC Festival of Cinema, Radio and TV, La Habana, Cuba, 1986.
Kid Chocolate
Prize (documentary). July 26 Contest of the Union of Journalists of Cuba (UPEC), 1988.
Bronze Tatú (for Best Editing Gladys Cambre), Bahia Days, Brazil, 1987.
First Caracol Prize for direction (shared).
Prize for Best Special Effects (Pepín Rodríguez).
Editing Prize. IV National UNEAC Festival of Cinema, Radio and Television, La Habana, 1987.
Golden Mikeldi. XXIX International Festival of Documentary and Short Film. Bilbao, Spain, 1987.
Selected as one of the most significant documentaries of the year. Annual Selection of Film Critics, La Habana, 1987.
Prize for Best Short Film. I Caribbean Images Festival, Fort de France, Martinique, 1988.
Special Mention at the Latino Film Festival of New York, 1989.
Historical Prize and Press Prize. III International Days of Sports Adventure Cinema (JIFAS), Annecy, France, 1988.
Perfecto amor equivocado
Audience Prize at the International Comedy Festival, Peñiscola, Spain, 2004.
Cubadisco Prize to Edesio Alejandro for the film's soundtrack, 2006
Un paraíso bajo las estrellas
Prize for Best Soundtrack. Prize for Best Music. Popularity Prize. XXI International Festival of New Latin American Cinema, La Habana, 1999.
Una vida para dos
Prize for Documentary Direction. II National UNEAC Festival of Cinema. La Habana, 1985.
Prize (Cinema). July 26 Contest of the Union of Journalists of Cuba (UPEC), La Habana, Cuba, 1984.
Prize for Direction. II UNEAC Festival (Cinema, Radio and Television Section).
Selected by Film Critics among the most significant films of the year, La Habana, Cuba, 1984.
Mention by OCIC (International Catholic Organization for Cinema). VI International Festival of New Latin American Cinema. La Habana, Cuba, 1984.
Third Coral Prize for Best Documentary. VI International Festival of New Latin American Cinema. La Habana, Cuba, 1984.