Raúl Pérez Ureta

Renowned cinematographer. National Film Prize in 2010.

He was born in the province of Sancti Spíritus, Cuba. He studied Journalism.

A man of few words, rather shy, is Raúl Pérez Ureta. The recipient of the 2010 National Film Prize is not characterized by speaking loudly or gesticulating, perhaps because he prefers to stop and look at each image from behind the camera.

He does not come from a family of artists, and he arrived at cinema by chance, as he says, back in the 1960s. Before that, he had worked in a tailor shop and his first connection with cinema was as a draftsman, but he didn't measure up. So he tried with the camera and then a path began that lasted until his death.

In 1961 he begins working at the Cuban Institute of Cinematographic Art and Industry (ICAIC) as an animation camera assistant in the Animated Drawings department.

He later becomes a camera assistant and sound recorder for the ICAIC Latin American Newsreel, until 1965 when he is designated as a cameraman, a job he performed in approximately 800 editions of the weekly newsreel. He worked as a sound operator and cameraman in more than 50 documentaries.

He becomes a director of photography and begins to work with renowned directors of Cuban cinema, Daniel Díaz Torres, Gerardo Chijona, Orlando Rojas, etc.; and under the direction of foreign filmmakers such as Fernando Birri and Ruy Guerra, among others. Special mention is deserved for the cinematography work in a large part of the films made with filmmaker Fernando Pérez.

He has taught photography at the International School of Film, TV and Video in San Antonio de los Baños (EICTV). He is a member of the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba and the Union of Journalists of Cuba.

Considered one of the most prestigious cinematographers of Cuban cinema, he was awarded the National Film Prize in 2010.

Awards
Los dueños del río
Photography Mention. Competition of the National Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba (UNEAC). Havana, 1980.

Minero
Caracol Award for Photography. Competition of the National Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba (UNEAC). Havana, 1981.

La semilla escondida
Caracol Award for Photography. Competition of the National Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba (UNEAC). Havana, 1985.

Menos tiempo en la mirada
Caracol Award for Photography. Competition of the National Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba (UNEAC). Havana, 1987.

Papeles secundarios
Award from the Superior Institute of Art in Havana.
Caracol Award for Photography. Competition of the National Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba (UNEAC). Havana, 1989.

Madagascar
Silver Golfinho Award for Photography. International Film Festival of Troia. Portugal, 1994.
Caracol Award for Photography. Competition of the National Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba (UNEAC). Havana, 1994.

Pon tu pensamiento en mí
Caracol Award for Photography. Competition of the National Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba (UNEAC). Havana, 1996.

La vida es silbar
Coral Award for Photography. XX International Festival of New Latin American Cinema. Havana, 1997.

Suite Habana
Best Photography. International Film Festival of Cuenca. Ecuador, 2000.
India Catalina Award. Best Photography. International Film Festival of Cartagena. Colombia, 2000.

Un paraíso bajo las estrellas
Caracol Award for Photography. Competition of the National Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba (UNEAC). Havana, 2000.

Madrigal
Silver Dolphin to Raúl Pérez Ureta for Best Photography. XXIII International Film Festival of Setúbal, Festroia. Portugal, 2007.

José Martí, el ojo del canario
Award for Best Photography. XXXVI Iberoamerican Film Festival of Huelva, Spain, 2010.

Other recognitions

National Film Prize 2010

Félix Elmuza Order, Journalism.

Raúl Gómez García Order (25 years in Culture).

Machete of Máximo Gómez of the FAR.

Order for National Culture.

Diploma for Artistic Merit from the Superior Institute of Art, 2002.