Mirta Ibarra, National Film Prize 2025

March 28, 2025

Who saw Strawberry and Chocolate and failed to notice Nancy, the ease, fragility, comic spark and charm of a character masterfully portrayed?

Elevating a supporting role to the realm of the unforgettable is a defining milestone for any performer, and Mirta Ibarra achieved it in that film. Thanks to this, she not only won a new Coral award, but established herself definitively in the national imagination as one of the iconic faces of Cuban cinema. Her successes on screen came before and would not stop afterward.

By virtue of that long trajectory in Cuban cinematography, as an actress in emblematic titles from 1967 to today, but also because of her multiple contributions over more than 50 years in the field of national culture, she has been awarded the National Film Prize 2025.

As announced by the Cuban Institute of Cinematographic Art and Industry, the jury selected Ibarra by majority vote, taking into account her legacy, continuity and comprehensiveness; as well as the impact of her work on society and her work in preserving the legacy of Tomás Gutiérrez Alea (Titón), who was her life partner, and under whose direction she worked in films such as The Last Supper, Up to a Certain Point and Letters from the Park.