Luis Yasser Vilá Cabrera

Jazz Vilá is a Cuban actor, director, producer, and playwright recognized for his performances in feature films such as Juan de los muertos, El acompañante, and Hotel Coppelia, as well as in the series Paquita Salas. He is the founder and CEO of the company Jazz Vilá Projects.

He began his artistic career at age 14 in an acting workshop at the National Theater of Cuba. A few months later he participated in the Cuban telenovela Las huérfanas de la Obra Pía where he played Andresito, the baker.

He subsequently enrolled in the National School of Arts of Cuba, graduating in acting in 2004. He joined the theater group El Público, under the direction of Carlos Díaz, becoming part of the cast of the works Ícaros and La loca de Chaillot.

In 2005 he made his first film, Personal Belongings, directed by Alejandro Brugués. That same year he traveled as an invited guest to the Avignon Theater Festival, subsequently moving to Madrid where he began working as a dramatic advisor for several flamenco artists such as La Truco and María Juncal. Also during his time in Spain he worked as a production assistant for the Ballet de Montecarlo, with whom he collaborated again during the XVI International Theater Festival of La Habana and for the company of Blanca Li, in which he also served as a costume assistant.

In 2010 he participated in the Cuban-Spanish co-production Juan de los muertos, the second film by director Alejandro Brugués. His interpretation of the character "la China" in this film was a candidate for nomination at the Goya Awards as "Best Breakthrough Actor". The premiere of the feature film took him to several festivals such as Guadalajara (Mexico), MIFF (United States), Fantasporto (Portugal), and BIFFF (Belgium).

In 2013 Vilá returned to Havana and worked in theater again with Carlos Díaz in the revival of the play Calígula and the musical Carmen Jones by Christopher Renshaw.

His presence in cinema became regular when he became part of the cast of the feature films Fátima o el parque de la Fraternidad, Caballos, El acompañante, and more recently, Antes que llegue el ferry. In 2015 the magazine VISTAR included him in the list of the six most recurring young actors in Cuban cinema.

In 2018 he had appearances in the Spanish series Paquita Salas (Netflix) and Skam España (Movistar Plus). Also that year he shot the Dominican feature film Hotel Coppelia directed by José María Cabrales.

Hotel Coppelia, released in 2021, received great public acceptance, even being recommended by Forbes.

Jazz was invited by the International Film Festival of Guadalajara as one of the experts to develop the Acting Studio of Talent Guadalajara 2019. Also this year Vilá was the artistic director of the Cuban Gala Against Homophobia and served as a juror at the Cuórum Morelia Festival.

The Mick and The Trick (2020) marked Jazz Vilá's debut in American cinema. In the film directed by Tom DeNucci, Vilá plays Sugar sharing the lead role with Peter Greene.

During 2021, he shot Mírame Así and Farándula: la película, feature films from the production company Alin Entertaimet, and joined the cast of El Jelengue as a presenter alongside Bonco Quiñongo on this Mega TV show.

Director
He made his directorial debut at age 17 with his own adaptation of La casa de Bernarda Alba at the Teatro Alicia Alonso in Havana. During his time in Spain he was artistic director of several flamenco shows and general director of the work La última noche.

Upon returning to Cuba he created a theater group that in 2015 became officially established as a company under the name Jazz Vilá Projects with productions of his own authorship such as Rascacielos, Eclipse, and more recently Farándula.

In January 2017 he became the first director to present a Cuban company in the United States performing in English a work from the island. That same year Jazz was awarded the Incubator Artist Program in Texas, an award that helped him produce his work Frontera, the first production by his company produced and premiered outside of Cuba.

In 2020, Jazz Vilá premiered the series "VOM (Vestuario o Maquillaje)", of which he was director, screenwriter, and executive producer, and in 2021 he directed the film Farándula (United States).

Main Works
Cinema
Year Film/Character Director/Country
2021 Farándula, la película Jazz Vilá/United States
2021 Mírame así Héctor (El Oso) Márquez/United States
2020 The Mick and the Trick Tom Denucci/United States
2018 Hotel Coppelia (Betty) José María Cabral/Dominican Republic
2016 Antes que llegue el Ferry (the superhero) Vladimir García/Cuba
2015 El Rey de La Habana (Raulito) Agustí Villaronga/Spain-Dominican Republic
2014 El Acompañante (Boris) Pavel Giroud/Cuba-France
Caballos (Fumigador) Fabián Suárez/Cuba
2013 La cosa humana (Jazz Vilá) Gerardo Chijona/Cuba
Omega 3 (Androide) Eduardo del Llano/Cuba
Fátima o el parque de la Fraternidad (Katiuska) Jorge Perugorría/Cuba
2012 Venecia (Ada-Adalberto) Kiki Álvarez/Cuba
2011 Juan de los muertos (la china) Alejandro Brugués/Cuba-Spain
2008 Arena (el hombre) Jota Aronak/Spain
2006 Personal Belongings (Mayito) Alejandro Brugués/Cuba
2005 El Cumpleaños (el papá) Virginia Llera/Spain
2003 Blues por la muerte del Capitán (Víctor) Fernando Zamora/Mexico-Cuba

Theater
Work/Character Director/Country
Eclipse (Conde) Jazz Vilá/Cuba
Carmen Jones 'The Musical' (Rico) Christopher Renshaw/Cuba
Goldfish (Jazz Vilá) Reinier Rodríguez/Cuba
Calígula (Escipión) Carlos Díaz/Cuba
Cartas a Peer Gynt (the ferryman) Carlos Díaz/Cuba
Poeta en Nueva York (Ella) Blanca Lí/Spain
La Loca de Chaillot (the errand boy) Carlos Díaz/Cuba
Ícaros (Ícaro de la lámpara) Carlos Díaz/Cuba
Enrique IV Primera parte (Falstaff) Maritza Abrahantes/Cuba
Fuenteovejuna (Esteban) Maritza Abrahantes/Cuba
Baltasar (Baltasar) Maritza Abrahantes/Cuba
Pícnic (Howard Bevans) Elena Álvarez/Cuba
Escenas de la calle (Frank Maurrant) Elena Álvarez/Cuba
Sueño de una noche de verano (Theseus and Oberon) Johan Monteagudo/Cuba

Television
Program/Character
Director/Country
Skam España Gynecologist Movistar Plus
Dulces de Barrio Alfonso
El Jelengue (presenter) Mega TV/United States
Paquita Salas (Rox) Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi/Spain
SKAM España (Fidel Gynecologist) Begoña Álvarez/Spain
Cuatro Estaciones en La Habana (Jiménez) Félix Viscarret/Spain-Cuba
La Secta (Lino) Oleg Fesenko/Russia-Cuba
Tras la huella (Manuel) Loysi Inclán/Cuba
Primera Clase (Oscar Tela Renta) Manolo Ortega/Cuba
Las huérfanas de la Obrapía (Andresito) Rafael (Cheito) González/Cuba

Awards and Recognition
Incubator Artist Program 2017. Award granted by the Museum and Cultural Affairs Department of the City of El Paso, Texas (United States).
·Special Prize of the Jury (Theater Category) at the International Literature Competition Casa Teatro 2016 (Dominican Republic).

Other Artistic Works

Screenplay/Producer/Director Farándula (Cuba)
Screenplay/Producer/Director Farándula El corto (Cuba)
Screenplay/Producer/Director El Pequeño (Cuba)
Screenplay/Producer/Director La vida es sueño (USA)
Screenplay/Producer/Director Frontera (USA-Cuba)
Screenplay/Producer/Director Eclipse (Cuba)
Acting Coach El Rey de La Habana (Dominican Republic)
Screenplay/Producer/Director Rascacielos (Cuba)
Screenplay/Producer/Director La última noche (Spain)
Scene Assistant Momix Remix (Spain)
Artistic Director En el cielo de mi boca (Spain)
Original Idea and Set Design Pacto de Otoño (Spain)
Production Assistant and Hair La consagración de la primavera and Scheherezade Los Ballets de Monte-Carlo (Spain)
Production Assistant and Costume Poeta en Nueva York / CIA Blanca Li (Spain)
Art Director Kéflamenca Catalog (Spain)
General Secretary and Assistant Shakespeare Foundation of Spain (Spain)
Artistic Advisor El encierro de Ana Frank (Spain)
Artistic Advisor and Set Design work Remembranzas (Spain)
Organizer and Presenter XIII and XIV International Book Fair in Havana (Cuba)
Costume Assistant La Loca de Chaillot (Cuba)
Set Design Baltasar (Cuba)
Set Design Escenas de la calle (Cuba)
Set Design Picnic (Cuba)
Version/Producer/Director La Casa de Bernarda Alba (Cuba)
Assistant Director Prometeo 99 Theater Festival (Cuba)

Festivals and Galas

Platino Awards (Mexico 2018)

Festival De La Ciudad Colonial Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic 2015)
Festival De Cine De San Sebastián (Spain 2015)
Festival Internacional Del Nuevo Cine Latinoamericano (Cuba)
Festival Nacional De Teatro De Camagüey (Cuba 2014)
Berlinale (Germany 2014)
Festival Internacional De Cine Fantástico De Zagreb (Croatia 2012)
Bifff (Belgium 2012)
Festival Internacional De Cine De Miami (USA 2012)
Festival Internacional De Cine De Guadalajara (Mexico 2012)
Fantasporto (Portugal 2012)
Festival De Sitges (Spain 2011)
Festival De Cannes (France 2011)
Festival De Cine De Málaga (Spain 2008)
Festival D' Avignon (France 2005)
Festival De Teatro De La Habana (Cuba 2004)