Double congratulations for Lester Hamlet on his 50th birthday

February 5, 2021

The multifaceted creator Lester Hamlet Veira turns 50 today, and fortunately he is one of the Havana natives who has managed to recover after being infected with COVID-19, news that delights everyone and is an added reason for celebration.

When studying Lester Hamlet's professional trajectory, one is surprised by the productivity of his career and the varied trades he has practiced, always from the perspective of art. It seems then a happy coincidence what the filmmaker published yesterday on his Facebook profile: "the biblical meaning of Lester is unstoppable."

Hamlet is a graduate of the School of Art Instructors, specialized in Theater Direction; he studied Film Direction at the Faculty of Art in Audiovisual Media Communication at the University of the Arts (ISA), and has taken courses in Film Editing, Art Direction and Screenwriting at the International School of Film and Television of San Antonio de los Baños EICTV, and other centers of artistic education.

These studies, combined with his talent and a hardworking and highly creative spirit, have resulted in a long list of his accomplishments, in realms such as theater, video clips, making-ofs, documentaries, short and feature films, advertising spots, public service announcements, and video art.

He has directed more than 15 theatrical works, in Cuba and other countries; as many video clips and spots; in many cases he has edited fiction films and documentaries; he has also worked as an assistant director and art director. In the field of feature films, he is responsible for the screenplay and direction of the story Lila, from the film Tres veces dos, which was selected by the Cuban Association of Film Press, among the 10 most significant films exhibited in Cuba during 2004.

It is not until 2010 that he premiered at the International Festival of New Latin American Cinema, his first feature: Casa vieja, also a screenplay by him and Mijaíl Rodríguez, based on the work The Old House, by the late playwright Abelardo Estorino, National Theater Prize 2002.

Lester succeeded with great success in narrating, from emotion and very sincere contemporaneity, this absolutely moving piece, of great psychological depth in characters and conflicts, which he committed to, according to his own words, "to the point of pain."

Casa vieja arrived at its premiere preceded by the Grand Prize for best feature film screenplay model that he had received at the VIII International Festival of Poor Cinema Humberto Solás, and it was a success; it won Jury Mention and the coveted Audience Prize, as spectators felt it and applauded greatly, as could happen today, because his ideas continue to be very timely.

The following year he premiered at the same event, Fábula, whose screenplay he wrote jointly with Alejandro Bruguet, based on the short story Fable of a Happy Love, by Cuban writer Alberto Garrandés, and which won the Third Coral Prize in the competition.

In 2016, Lester took home the Popularity Prize at the International Festival of New Latin American Cinema, with his film Ya no es antes, and Luis Alberto García, the protagonist, obtained the Coral Prize for Male Acting.

On the other hand, and showcasing his versatility, Hamlet has conceived and directed in several editions, the opening and closing galas of the International Festival of New Latin American Cinema of Havana, and directed the X edition of the International Festival of Poor Cinema, held in the city of Gibara, in Holguín.

One of the tasks he has always carried out with great success and public and critical acclaim has been the direction of live concerts, for the most important record labels in the country, of musicians of excellence such as Leo Brouwer, Sergio Vitier, Marta Valdés, Miriam Ramos, Hernán López Nussa, Isaac Delgado, Polito Ibáñez, Yusa and William Vivanco, which, as can be seen, embrace very diverse genres of the island's melodic staff.

Lester is a multi-awarded creator; the values of his works have been recognized, in addition, by the Caracol Competition of the UNEAC, on repeated occasions, International Festival of Poor Cinema of Gibara, International Ibero-American Film Festival of Guatemala; Festival des filmes du monde, of Montreal, and Ícaro Festival, of Central American Film and Video.

Likewise, he has been awarded by the Showcase of New Filmmakers, the Lucas Awards, Festival Cine Plaza, Almacén de la Imagen, and many other specialized events.

Hamlet deserves it, just as he deserves today's congratulations, and his ascending trajectory should be remembered, controversial at times, always greatly applauded, characterized by his sharp, profound and sincere look at his reality, and which is the personal contribution of this unstoppable creator to Cuban culture.