Jorge Fraga

Film director and professor. Studies in radio and television. Since 1952, he worked as a cinematographer and producer at CMQ-TV. Founder of ICAIC in 1959. Between 1959 and 1977, he performed different functions: Assistant director, Director of short and feature-length documentary and fiction films, producer of numerous editions of the ICAIC Latin American Newsreel, artistic advisor and subdirector of artistic programming.

His work as a teacher was not limited to film practice, but he also taught Aesthetics and Film History at the University of Havana between 1970 and 1977. He was a founder of the International School of Film and Television of San Antonio de los Baños (EICTV). He was part of the team that began the formation of the academic programs of that institution, in which, from its beginnings, he taught classes and held positions of Academic Director. In 1978, he held the position of Vice President of the Film Production Management of ICAIC.

His audiovisual works were recognized nationally and internationally. The documentary The Mountain Unites Us received the Best Program Award –a set of Cuban films– at the International Documentary and Short Film Festival of Leipzig, GDR, in 1961. Another documentary of his And I Became a Teacher received the Gold Medal from the World Peace Council at this same festival in 1962; also in Leipzig, his feature film The New School received the Diploma of Honor and FIPRESCI Award in 1973; it was also selected as one of the most significant films of that year by the Annual Selection of Cuban Critics and received the Certificate of Excellence from the Georgetown International Film Festival, Guyana, in 1976.

Also noteworthy in his filmography are the direction of the story New Year from the feature fiction film Cuba 58; and From Days Like These (1964) The Robbery (1965), and The Odyssey of General José (1968). Furthermore, the filmmaker participated in the co-direction of the documentaries Escambray (1961) and The Sixth Part of the World (1977); also, together with Rogelio París, he co-directed the feature fiction film Legend (1981).

The epic narration of the feats of the Cuban people accompanied many of the pieces in which he participated in the 1960s and early 1970s. Likewise, it is noteworthy that his knowledge of the art of cinema allowed him to be part of juries in international competitions and to publish specialized texts on the seventh art.

He died in Colombia on May 5, 2012

FILMOGRAPHY
1960
We Shall Overcome (Doc.)
1961
Escambray (Co-direction. Doc.)
And I Became a Teacher (Doc.)
The Mountain Unites Us (Doc.)
Cuba, Armed People (Assistant Director. Doc.)
Travel Journal (Assistant Director. Doc.)
1962
A Day's Work (Assistant Director. Story from the fiction film Cuba 58)
The Sweethearts (Assistant Director. Story from the fiction film Cuba 58)
New Year (Story from the fiction film Cuba 58)
1964
Days Like These (Feature. Fict.)
1965
The Robbery (Feature. Fict.)
1968
The Odyssey of General José (Feature. Fict.)
1970
School in the Countryside (Doc.)
1971
VI Pan American Games (Doc.)
1972
A Historical Game (Doc.)
Vanguard on the Island (Doc.)
1973
The New School (Feature. Fict.)
1974
The Garden (Doc.)
1975
Friendship (Doc.)
1977
The Sixth Part of the World (Doc. Co-direction)
1981
Legend (Co-direction. Feature fict.)

AWARDS AND RECOGNITION
And I Became a Teacher
Gold Medal from the World Peace Council. Documentary and Short Film Festival. Leipzig, GDR. 1962
The Mountain Unites Us
Best Program Award (set of Cuban films). International Documentary and Short Film Festival. Leipzig, GDR. 1961
The New School
Diploma of Honor; FIPRESCI Award. Documentary and Short Film Festival. Leipzig, GDR. 1973
One of the most significant films of the year. Annual Selection of Critics. Havana, Cuba. 1973
Certificate of Excellence. Georgetown International Film Festival. Guyana. 1976.