Roberto Cornelio Ferguson

Recognized director of Cuban Television. He possesses a productive artistic career of more than four decades in the direction of informational and musical programs, cultural events, and high-level political activities, both within and outside Cuba. He has been awarded several prizes, recognitions, and distinctions.

Roberto Ferguson stands out among the most recognized directors of Cuban Television.

Roberto Ferguson studied a degree in History at the University of Havana where –he assures– he had eminent professors such as Dr. Hortensia Pichardo, among others.

When he finishes his degree, he begins working in a Basic Secondary School, but he always had theatrical interests, so he participates in amateur theater and in the staging of the zarzuela Cecilia Valdés, with Alina Sánchez, under the direction of Elena de Armas. Then he discovered that teaching was not for him.

One day he presented himself at the National Council of Culture for placement. They sent him to work in Santiago de Cuba as a professor of Art History in the theater group of that city, called Conjunto Dramático de Oriente, under the direction of Adolfo Gutkin. There he became linked to the Telerebelde channel, recently created.

Shortly after, Matos, the director of the newly inaugurated television station Tele Rebelde, called him to work in that medium. Matos communicated with the President of the ICR, and he responded to locate Ferguson there and enroll him in a directing course. Among his classmates was Lolina Cuadras.

In October 1968 he arrived in Havana to join the Comprehensive Television Directing course. The following year, already graduated, he was placed in the National Television News as Director of Broadcast, a position he held for 25 years.

At the same time, he continued his development as director and actor of the Rita Montaner theater group. He inaugurated Panorama, a cultural supplement of the National Television News.

He became involved with the musicals Por primera vez and Días de países amigos, the broadcasts of galas and shows filmed in important theaters in Havana. He also created the programs Tía tata cuenta cuentos and Amigos y sus amiguitos, as well as miniseries, comedies, and dramatizations.

He inaugurated Panorama, a cultural supplement of the National Television News, during those years.

In 1996 he began directing Bravo, a program dedicated to promoting concert music, ballet, dance, opera, lyric and choral singing, among other artistic manifestations, whose fundamental objective is to raise the cultural level of Cubans. His support for the broadcast of the Concert for Peace, organized by singer-songwriter Juanes, stands out.

He participated in the children's programs Tía Tata cuenta cuentos and Amigos y sus amiguitos; in comedies and theater alongside Ana Lasalle, and in miniseries such as Relatos sobre Lenin, co-directing with Liliam Llerena.

He is among the founders of the Round Tables and Open Forums. Over the years he has participated in the design and implementation of the information policy of the Cuban Television Information System. He founded the broadcasts of Open Forums and the Round Table program, in the context of the Battle of Ideas for the return to Cuba of the boy Elián González.

He has directed the broadcasts of political acts and appearances by political leaders, galas and commemorative events for July 26. He participated as television director during the visits of popes John Paul II, Benedict XVI, and Francis.

He is a member of the National Evaluation Commission in the specialty of Directing and has been a jury member in international events and television center festivals.

He has obtained several recognitions for works such as the comedy De mutuo acuerdo, written by Maité Vera; he received mentions and Caracol prizes from the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba (Uneac) for Relatos de Lenin, Panorama, Manón, a program dedicated to the performances in Cuba of the Royal Ballet Theatre, in 2009 and for the closing gala of the 2006 Television Festival.

He accumulates extensive experience as a jury member in National Film, Radio and Television Festivals, as well as in the Festival of New Latin American Cinema and the Caracol Contest of UNEAC, an institution of which he is a member.

Awards and Recognitions

National Television Award 2013
Honor Prize from Cubadisco in 2012
Replica of the Machete Mambí of Máximo Gómez
"Raúl Gómez García" Distinction
Distinction for National Culture
Tropical Gitana Distinction
Medal of Literacy
Commemorative Medal for the 40th Anniversary of the FAR
50th Anniversary Medal of the National Ballet of Cuba
Merit Artist Status of Cuban Television
Recognition from the Museum of the Revolution for his support in the dissemination of Lyric Art in Cuba, on the occasion of the 50th Anniversary of the National Lyric Theater
Laureate Seal

He has obtained several recognitions for works such as the comedy De mutuo acuerdo, written by Maité Vera. He received mentions and Caracol prizes from the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba (Uneac) for Relatos de Lenin, Panorama, Manón, a program dedicated to the performances in Cuba of the Royal Ballet Theatre, in 2009 and for the closing gala of the 2006 Television Festival.