Tribute to Juan Padrón and Raúl Pérez Ureta at the Goya Awards

February 15, 2022

The Goya Awards remembered the legacy of filmmaker Juan Padrón and cinematographer Raúl Pérez Ureta in its 'In memoriam' section, alongside other renowned figures of Spanish cinema.

Juan Padrón, who passed away on March 24, 2020 at the age of 73, is a paradigm of animation in Cuba, of cartoons and cinema in general. The media always focus on his creation of the animated cartoon Elpidio Valdés, that indomitable mambí who has accompanied generations of Cubans through his adventures full of wit and humor set against Spanish troops.

Juan was also the director and creator of dozens of animated films that figure in the collective memory of Cubans today and possibly those to come. A classic example is the film Vampires in Havana, whose phrases still nourish Cuban idiosyncrasy and now form part of the country's cultural identity. Who doesn't remember those hilarious phrases about vampisol and Pepe the trumpet player?

These are just two examples of the lasting impact of Padrón's work, who also directed the famous short films that delighted thousands of Cuban children and which one day mysteriously disappeared from television along with so many other cartoons that never lost the magic, despite the passage of time, of captivating viewers in front of the screen.

Quinescopios is also not much talked about when Juan Padrón is mentioned. He created this project together with Argentine Joaquín Salvador Lavado Tejón (Quino), the creator of Mafalda, another beloved character full of symbolism in Latin culture.

Juan was above all a filmmaker ahead of his time. And he never lost that creative force or his fertile imagination to promote and give shape to various projects until his death. He was, in summary, a versatile filmmaker who devoted himself completely to creation and had the fortune of receiving, during his lifetime, the affection and gratitude of thousands of Cubans.

His daughter Xilvia Padrón thanked the tribute on her Facebook profile. "What a sweetheart my dad was. If he had seen it he would have told me: Girl, how handsome I looked! And we would have laughed. Thanks to those who remembered him and paid him tribute." Her message was accompanied by a photo of her father when young and a post from the official profile of the Cuban filmmaker thanking the Goya Awards.

Raúl Pérez Ureta, who passed away in 2021 at the age of 79, is one of the greatest cinematographers in the history of Cuban cinema. His work speaks for itself. He studied journalism and upon entering the Cuban Institute of Cinematographic Art and Industry, he worked as an animation camera assistant in the Animation Department and as a camera assistant and sound recorder for the ICAIC Latin American Newsreel, where he participated in more than 800 editions. As a cinematographer, he worked under the direction of important figures in Latin American cinema such as Fernando Birri and Ruy Guerra.

Ureta, for his creativity and originality in the art of cinematography, was also a founder. Another man who did not cease to show, through the lens, the power of his creativity and the imprints of national cinema. In Cuba he collaborated with several of the most outstanding directors. In his career it is essential to mention his links and his work as cinematographer of films such as Madagascar Insumisas, Suite Habana, Martí, el ojo del canario, all by Fernando Pérez; Amor vertical (Arturo Sotto), as well as Perfecto amor equivocado and Los buenos demonios, both by Gerardo Chijona.

The Goya Awards' tribute to Juan Padrón and Raúl Pérez Ureta is not only an act of justice, but a fact that identifies the value of Cuban cinema and the need that national cinematography has to renew itself as it did decades ago thanks, among others, to the drive of Juan Padrón and Raúl Pérez Ureta, two of its most emblematic creators.