Tomas Piard

Bachelor's degree in Art History from the University of La Habana and in Audiovisual Media Art from the Instituto Superior de Arte de Cuba.

Master's degree in Television Direction and Production from the Escuela de Imagen y Sonido de Benposta, Galicia, España. He has completed courses and postgraduate studies in Museology, Oriental Art, Child and Adolescent Psychology, and Telenovela Dramaturgy, among others. He has participated in several film and video festivals.

His films have been exhibited in París, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, España, Great Britain, and Costa Rica, among others. He has served as a juror in national and international film competitions.

He is a member of the UNEAC, the SGAE, and SIGNIS-Cuba. Professor at the Faculty of Audiovisual Media Art from the Instituto Superior de Arte de Cuba, the Escuela Gallega de Cine, Vigo, España, and the Film School at Universidad Veritas in San José de Costa Rica. He holds the Order of Artistic Merit, awarded by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Cuba.

Many knew him as a talent scout, because it was thanks to him that César Évora and Jorge Perugorría became names that began to resonate in the film industry.

Tomás Piard, at the age of 71, dies as a result of a neurological condition. He was a tenacious maker of Cuban cinematography, an exponent of auteur cinema and a vast body of work that in its beginnings bet on an experimental model and later adopted, at times, aesthetics that allowed him to address human and social issues linked to the realities of our country and universal dimensions.

Piard lived for cinema in its most diverse forms since he began very young in the amateur film movement and directed one of the most prestigious cineclubs in the country. He was a director, screenwriter, editor, master of generations, and his work received recognition both in Cuba and in other countries.

In 1987 he directed, with modest resources, what would be the first Cuban amateur feature film, Ecos, silent and in black and white. He would not stop filming for cinema and television in what constituted a feverish dedication to art and his particular way of telling stories.

A vast connoisseur of the work of Lezama Lima, in 2008 he presented El viajero inmóvil, inspired by the novel Paradiso. He would return to the poet's footsteps with Trocadero 162, bajos. His last three films were Los desastres de la guerra (2012), Si vas a comer espera por Virgilio (2013), and La ciudad (2015).

At age 70, he dies on March 24, 2019, one of the promoters of independent Cuban cinema, a master who dedicated a large part of his life to teaching this art, a man who loved his career and left a great legacy for future generations of filmmakers.

FILMOGRAPHY
1987
Ecos (Screenplay and Direction. Fiction. 87´)

1988
La aurora (Screenplay and Direction. Fiction. 8´)
La barrera (Screenplay and Direction. Fiction. 1´)
En la noche (Screenplay and Direction. Fiction. 17´)
La anunciación (Fiction screenplay)

1989
El crisol del tormento (Fiction screenplay)
La posibilidad infinita (Screenplay and Direction. Fiction. 27´)
Prólogo para una leyenda (Fiction. 11´)
En el claro de la luna (Video clip, 7´)
El canto de la noche (Fiction. Video, 28´)
Martes (Screenplay and Direction. Fiction. 11´)

1990
Retrato del cineasta en un externo (Docudrama screenplay)
Niña en el espejo (Fiction. Video, 17´)
La próxima vez (Fiction. 28´)
Mamá Inés (Video clip, 7´)
Noticias de la fantasía (Fiction. Video, 26´)
Adorable fantasma (Fiction. Video, 57´)

1991
Boceto (Screenplay and Direction. Fiction. 83´)

1992
Mirada oblicua a través del espejo (Fiction screenplay)
En busca del filme perdido (Screenplay and Direction. Documentary. Video, 14´)
Dulce estupor (Screenplay and Direction. Fiction. Video, 18´)
Fuera del mundo (Screenplay and Direction. Fiction. Video, 28´)
Para juntar y armar (Screenplay and Direction. Fiction. Video, 14´)
Pórtico (Screenplay and Direction. Fiction. Video, 14´)
Premier (Screenplay and Direction. Fiction. Video, 14´)
El castillo de cristal (Fiction. Video serial)

1993
Patio de sueños (Fiction series)
La palabra (Screenplay and Direction. Video clip, 7´)
Sombras (Screenplay and Direction. Fiction. Video, 54´)

1994
Memorias (Fiction screenplay)

1995
El viajero inmóvil (Fiction screenplay)
Los visitantes (Fiction screenplay)

1996
El hacedor (Screenplay and Direction. Fiction. Video, 33´)
Demonios (Screenplay and Direction. Fiction. Video, 20´)
Piedras rodantes (Screenplay and Direction. Fiction. Video, 8´)
La caída de las hojas (Fiction screenplay)

1997
Leyendas de Etrom (Fiction screenplay)
First (Co-direction with Enrique Pineda. Fiction. Video, 10´)
Dies Irae (Screenplay and Direction. Fiction. 54´)
El bosque de Andrei Tarkovski (Fiction. 11´)

1998
La caída de las hojas (Screenplay and Direction. Fiction. Video, 17´)
La pasión según Andrés (Fiction screenplay)
Un día esplendoroso, esplendoroso (Fiction screenplay)

1999
Ítaca (Screenplay and Direction. Fiction. Video, 123´)
Amor con amor se paga (Screenplay and Direction. Fiction. Video, 57´)
Siempre arribarás a esta ciudad (Screenplay and Direction. Fiction. Video, 56´)

2000
Tres (Screenplay and Direction. Fiction. Video, 11´)

2001
Al atardecer (Screenplay and Direction. Fiction. Video, 66´)
Finis Terrae (Switzerland and Galicia. Screenplay and Direction. Fiction. Video, 54´)

2002
Los muertos (Fiction. Video, 6´. Irmandade production)
Las criadas (Fiction. Video, 6´. Irmandade production)
Fábula, a terra meiga (Galicia. Fiction. Digital Video, 20´. Producciones Vigo)
La última niebla (Fiction. Video, 32. TV Cubana)
Los malditos (Fiction. Video, 6´. Irmandade production)
Los siervos (Fiction. Video, 8´. Irmandade production)
El sueño y un día (Fiction. Video, 68´)

2003
El olor del recuerdo (Fiction. Video, 30´. Co-production ICAIC-ICRT-Proyecto Palomas)

2004
Calle de la Esperanza (Fiction. Video, 35´. TV Cubana)

2005
La memoria de los árboles (Documentary. Video, 54´. ICAIC-ICRT-AD HOC VIDEO - Proyecto Palomas)
Espectros (Fiction. Video, 92´. TV Cubana)
Santa Cecilia (Digital. ICAIC - ICRTV - Grupo Teatro El Público)

2006
Viaje de un largo día hacia la noche (Screenplay and direction. Fiction. Digital. 120 min. Prod. ICAIC-ICRT-CNAE)
Freddie (Screenplay and direction. Fiction. Digital. 45 min. Prod. ICAIC-ICRT-CNAE)

2008
El viajero inmóvil (Screenplay and direction. Fiction. VHD. 85 min. Prod. ICAIC)
Tras las huellas del viajero (Screenplay and direction. Documentary. VHD. 41 min. Prod. ICAIC)
Escándalo en la trapa (Screenplay and direction. Fiction. Video. 90 min. Prod. ICRT and CNAE)

2009
¡Ay, mi Amor! (Screenplay and Direction. HDV 94 min.)
De la sabiduría (Screenplay and direction. VHD. Fiction 32 min. Prod. ICRT and CNAE)
Fuga No. 1 (Screenplay and co-direction with Richard Molina. Digital. Video clip. 6 min. Prod. EGREM)
Brouwer en rosa (Screenplay and direction. Documentary. Digital. 46 min. Prod. EGREM)

2010
La noche del juicio (Screenplay and Direction)
El más fuerte (Fiction. ICRT-CNAE-ICAIC)

AWARDS AND RECOGNITION
Adorable fantasma
Best Direction Award. UNEAC Caracol Competition, 1990.
Al Atardecer
Caracol Award. UNEAC for direction, art direction, best cinematography, best original music, and best costume design. 2001.
Amor con amor se paga
Special Jury Prize. UNEAC Caracol Competition, 1999.
Boceto
Best Fiction Film Award. National Film and Video Festival, 1992.
Calle de la Esperanza
Caracol Award for Direction, Makeup and Hair Design, and Credit Design.
Dies Irae
Best Fiction Film Award. National Film and Video Festival, 1997.
Ecos
Best Fiction Film Award. Cine Plaza, 1987.
El Chicuelo Award. Second Youth Cinema Exhibition, 1988.
El canto de la noche
Best Fiction Video Award. Cine Plaza, 1989.
El castillo de cristal
Best Direction Award. UNEAC Caracol Competition, 1992.
Best Production of the Year Award. Instituto Cubano de Radio y Televisión.
El sueño y un día
Caracol Award for Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction.
El viajero inmóvil
UNEAC Screenplay Award, 1995.
Caracol Award for Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, and Best Work awarded by the Biblioteca Nacional José Martí. Festival of the Union of Cuban Writers and Artists. La Habana, 2008.
En el claro de la luna
Best Video for Children Award. Festival of New Latin American Cinema, 1989.
En la noche
Best Fiction Film Award. Cine Plaza, 1988.
Best Fiction Film Award. III National Cineclub Festival, 1988.
Espectros
Awards for: Best Theater, Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Makeup and Hair, Best Costume Design, and Best Male Performance at the II National Television Festival. La Habana, 2006.
Caracol Award for Direction, Screenplay, Cinematography, Editing, Costume Design, Art Direction, Soundtrack, and Original Music.
Fábula de terra meiga
Caracol Award for Best Direction, Best Cinematography, and Best Sound.
Finis Terrae
Caracol Award for Best Art Direction.
Ítaca
Best Art Direction Award. UNEAC Caracol Competition, 2000.
OCIC-Cuba Cathedral Award. UNEAC Caracol Competition, 2000.
La anunciación
Best Unpublished Screenplay Award. Cine Plaza, 1988.
March 13 Award for Best Film Screenplay, 1989.
La memoria de los árboles
Caracol Award for Cinematography.
La última niebla
Best Drama Award at International Caribbean Broadcasting Union Festival. 2003.
Caracol Award for Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction, Best Scenic Design.
Awards for Best Adaptation, Best Costume, Best Set Design, Best Settings, Best Makeup and Hair at the First National Television Festival, 2004.
Siempre arribarás a esta ciudad
Special Jury Prize. UNEAC Caracol Competition, 1999.
Sombras
Best Fiction Video Award. National Film and Video Festival, 1993.
Viaje de un largo día hacia la noche
Caracol Award for Best Direction, Art Direction, Cinematography, Festival of the Union of Cuban Writers and Artists. La Habana, 2007.
Grand Prize, Best Theater Award, Best Art Direction; Best Cinematography, Best Female Performance, and Best Supporting Male Performance at the IV National Television Festival, La Habana, 2007.