Rolando Pérez Betancourt

Recognized journalist, narrator and one of Cuba's most incisive film critics.

He is the son of a very humble family, of an unemployed father and a housewife mother: "I lived in extreme poverty". Upon finishing eighth grade, he began working as an apprentice in the printing department of the newspaper Hoy (official organ of the Popular Socialist Party). There he became a typographer. It was the old communists from that newspaper—who saw Rolando develop in the Hoy workshops—who brought him to the Diario de la Marina, where he became an empirical designer, based on what he had learned in the printing department. Later, when he was 16 years old, when Hoy and Granma merged, the young man was part of the founders of Granma. In 1963 he moved to the editorial department as a designer and sports columnist.

Licensed in Journalism from the University of La Habana in 1973 and graduated in French from the Institutes of Foreign Trade and Foreign Relations in the seventies.

Founder in 1965 of the newspaper Granma, holding the positions of editorial chief, information chief and cultural page chief, and has written the sections "Minuto y medio", "Luz roja", "La historia detrás de la foto", "Sucedió hace 20 años" and "Crónica de un espectador", the latter dedicated to cinema, which has been maintained since 1973.

In the eighties of the twentieth century he hosted the television film programs "Tanda del domingo", "Cine vivo" and "Noche de cine".

Since 2003 he has been in charge of the weekly program "La séptima puerta" on Cubavisión Channel.

Published Works
He has published the novels "Mujer que regresa" (Editorial Letras Cubanas, 1986 and 1990) and "La última mascarada de la cumbancha" (Editorial Letras Cubanas, 1999 / Editorial Océano, México, 2004).

Film reviews are included in "Rollo crítico" (Editorial Pablo de la Torriente Brau, 1991) and is the author of the study "La crónica, ese jíbaro" (Editorial Pablo de la Torriente, 1982 / S.A.G, Madrid, 1987).

Journalistic texts are gathered in Crónicas al pasar (Editorial Orbe, 1971); Cuatro historias de pueblo (Editorial Universitaria, 1974); "16 imágenes" (Editorial Universitaria, 1975) and "Sucedió hace 20 años" (Editorial de Ciencias Sociales, 1978), in two volumes.

Other Responsibilities

Founder, in 1963, of the Union of Cuban Journalists
Member of the National Council of UNEAC, where he was president of the Association of Radio, Film and Television Critics in the eighties.

As a jury member he has participated, among other journalistic, literary and cinematographic contests, in:

José Martí National Journalism Prize
Cirilo Villaverde Novel Prize of UNEAC
José Antonio Fernández de Castro National Cultural Journalism Prize
Literary Criticism Prize
Moscow and Karlovy Vary Film Festivals.

Participation in Events and Conferences

He has traveled as a journalist, or to participate in and/or give lectures at cultural events, festivals and film festivals, to Czechoslovakia, France, Mexico, Italy, Germany, United States, Venezuela, England, Dominican Republic, Spain, Hungary and Puerto Rico.

Awards, Distinctions and Honors

He has been recognized for the work accomplished, with the following awards and distinctions:
Distinction For National Culture (1994)
José Antonio Fernández de Castro National Cultural Journalism Prize in its first awarding in 1999
José Martí National Journalism Prize (2007)
José Manuel Valdés Rodríguez Seal from the University of La Habana (2011)