The Quirino Awards Pay Tribute to Cuban Artist Juan Padrón

May 31, 2021

The Quirino Awards for Ibero-American Animation, held from May 27 to 29, have paid tribute to Juan Padrón, a figure in Cuban animation who passed away in March 2020 at the age of 73 and will be remembered through various initiatives in his native country.

Silvia Padrón, daughter of the creator of Ibero-American animation classics such as the character Elpidio Valdés and the film 'Vampires in Havana', traveled to La Laguna, in northern Tenerife, to participate in the tribute at the fourth edition of the awards. "My father was a great storyteller," Silvia Padrón commented to the guests and journalists participating in the Quirino, "he was always the one who entertained at family dinners, but never seeking the spotlight," she added.

Raúl García, Spanish animator based in Los Angeles, was in charge of presenting the Quirino Honor Award to Juan Padrón, a prize that was received by his daughter at the gala held at the Teatro Leal in La Laguna on Saturday afternoon.

Despite being a quick draftsman, Juan Padrón was unable to finish his autobiography, 'My Life in Cuba', a book published by Penguin that remains at 257 pages of black and white comic strips that review his life and, in passing, the history of Cuba. "Many stories were left out, but it's a fun book that sweeps away sadness," Silvia comments.

The family, specifically Juan Padrón's widow, writes the epilogue to complete the story that was left unfinished. "Probably, in a month he would have finished writing it," but it was not to be, "I would have loved to have a cable so I could plug it in while he was already in the hospital and through it he would have transferred all the ideas he had," his daughter recounts.

So that Juan Padrón's work persists, the family and several Cuban institutions are working on initiatives such as digitizing and preserving his films, with the help of Cuban television and the Cuban Film Institute. Padrón is the Ibero-American filmmaker with the most minutes on screen.

And the second initiative is the construction of a cultural and creative center in Havana under the name La Manigua, designed so that children and parents can have a space in which to create, learn and, above all, have fun. "There will be four thousand square meters for activities related to film, theater, music, science…" Silvia comments, who will be the one to direct the center. All of this with the help of Cuba's Ministry of Culture, the Fund for Cultural Assets, and the Government of Havana.

Juan Padrón's work "helped us Cubans to know more about ourselves, part of the values of his work is the taste for history," she adds, and the fact is that the character of Elpidio Valdés, created 50 years ago, has resonated so much that he even managed to get Cubans to adopt several of his expressions and introduce them into their way of speaking.

The Colonel of the Liberating Army leads troops fighting in the war for independence from Spain in 1895 and until the early twentieth century. Elpidio Valdés has told his adventures through 22 short films, three feature films and a television series of 6×30, despite having started in a newspaper.

"My father's work is yet to be rediscovered," Silvia Padrón assured. The artist was one of the most complete, given that he took care of everything from the script and storyboard to voice dubbing. The Casa de América in Madrid will host a new tribute to Juan Padrón on July 16, with the presentation of the autobiography and the screening of 'Vampires in Havana'.

Along with the presentation of 'My Life in Cuba' and the awarding of the prize, the Quirino Awards for Ibero-American Animation have offered during these days at the Convent of Santo Domingo in La Laguna an exhibition with posters of Juan Padrón's films, many of them created by fellow Cuban Eduardo Muñoz Bachs.