Tupac Pinilla Núñez

Film director and screenwriter. Doctor in Psychological Sciences. Member of the Hermanos Saíz Association. Regular contributor to various Cuban and foreign press outlets. Grandson of Cuban writer Enrique Núñez Rodríguez.

Tupac was born in Madrid. In the year 2000 he obtained his doctorate in Psychological Sciences.

He is a literary editor, journalist, screenwriter and filmmaker. He has participated in several national film festivals both as a jury member and as a contestant.

Member of the Hermanos Saíz Association (AHS). Editor and press chief of the electronic publishing house CubaLiteraria, a Cuban literature portal of the Cuban Institute of the Book (ICL). Head of the Film and Video Newsletter, a periodic publication of the Information Center of the Cuban Institute of Film Art and Industry (ICAIC).

Regular contributor to various Cuban and foreign press outlets.

He has published "Cuba, above all, is an idea" (interview with Lisandro Otero), in: Passion of the Novelist (selection by Eugenio Marrón), Letras Cubanas, Havana, 2003.

He has edited a dozen books by authors such as Enrique Núñez Rodríguez, Alberto Garrandés, Reynaldo González, Jesús David Curbelo, Rufo Caballero and Silvio Rodríguez, among others.

Filmography
Another Cuban fight against demons... and the sea
1999
Advertising spots for ETECSA and the Pablo de la Torriente Brau Cultural Center. (Director, producer and screenwriter, 1998-1999)
2004
Zapping (Series of short fiction films 3´, 4´ and 7´ / MiniDV).
Other Productions
Utopias (Director, producer and screenwriter, AHS)
In Need (Short Fiction Film. 15´ / MiniDV). Caminos Productions. (Director and screenwriter)
In Progress (Doc. 6´/ MiniDV). Caminos Productions. (Director and screenwriter)
2005
The Empty Chair (Short Fiction Film. 15´ / MiniDV). Caminos Productions. (Director and screenwriter)
2007
Another Cuban fight against demons... and the sea (Doc. 52´ / HDV). Doctv IB – ICAIC. (Director and screenwriter)
Madrigal Suite (Doc. 20´/ MiniDV) Wait... wait.... bioproductions. (Cinematographer)

Awards
"Chicuelo" creation grant (Hermanos Saíz Association), Havana, 2004: "Zapping" project.
Mention, "Experimental Video" category, Cine Plaza, Havana, 2004: Zapping.
Award from the Cuban call of the Doctv IB Documentary Screenplay Contest, 2006: "Another Cuban fight against demons... and the sea".
Work as jury member
Short Film Screenplay Contest "Caminos", 2007 (convened by Caminos Productions, of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Center)

Tupac was born with Werdnig-Hoffmann disease, which is a hereditary neuromuscular disease characterized by progressive muscle atrophy.

"(...)
TUPAC, from a very young age, fought against his disease. In his early years he struggled with his ailment, trying to walk on his own feet. Using crutches he would walk, fall, hit himself hard, and upon getting up he would try again, without a tear, with a tenacity and courage that were truly exemplary. He soon understood that he would not walk. And the wheelchair became part of his life, of our lives.
For me the sound of that wheelchair is music, joy, political dialogue, ideological disagreement, generational struggle, baseball discussions, art and literature criticism and double-meaning jokes. TUPAC bequeathed to me his preference for aged rum, and if it's seven-year all the better, which is why that wheelchair knows about the timely drink, which can also be the so-called "bodega rum," "in bulk" or "rat poison." It is a silent witness, on stormy days, to the psychological advice given to the grandfather "immature."
(...)".

Fragment from TUPAC, a chronicle that Enrique Nuñez Rodríguez wrote for his grandson Tupac Pinilla.

Photographer Kaloian Santos expressed: Tupac Pinilla. Thank you for giving me so many life lessons. Thank you for the Video Clips you directed for us. But above all thank you for letting me be your friend. You will go with me to my last glimmers of life. Thank you, dear. Thank you. Rest in peace.

Israel Roja of the duo Buena Fe commented: Oceans of intelligence with tons of willpower, managed physically with the index finger of the right hand. With that he became a Doctor of Sciences, edited voluminous books, filmed documentaries and Video Clips (he was also co-director of "Casanova, Cecilia Valdes and Sleeping Beauty"). Tupac was a living legend. Your light accompanies us. Rest in peace, brother.

Silvio Rodríguez said: One of the saddest pieces of news in a long time. Tupac was the same age as my daughter Violeta. He possessed one of the most lucid intelligences I have ever known. An unforgettable being.