Cuban filmmaker Jonal Cosculluela dies in Havana

October 31, 2024

Cuban filmmaker Jonal Cosculluela Sánchez, who made his film debut with the movie Esteban in 2016, passed away this Tuesday in Havana at the age of 47.

He carried out several works for television, including series and dramatizations. He graduated from FAMCA in 2010, according to a note from Cubacine ICAIC.

Editor, sound technician, director, and project advisor for Cuban cinema and audiovisual media.

Esteban, his first feature film, earned him several awards at festivals, including the jury award and the audience prize at the 42nd Iberoamerican Film Festival in Huelva, as well as three collateral awards presented by RTVE, IES Pablo Neruda, and the Vita Música Orchestra.

At the 38th International Festival of New Latin American Cinema in Havana, he received the UNICEF award and the Vigía award.

Likewise, he received the Caracol award for debut films granted by the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba, an association of which he was a member, and the award from the Cuban Association of Film Press.

In 2020, he directed the documentary Volverán los abrazos, together with Maritza Ceballos.

The Assembly of Cuban Filmmakers remembered him today in what they described as a "sad moment for Cuban cinema," and noted that at the time of his death he had "several projects in development."

"We think, we suffer, we love the country. We try to bring out our own demons through art. We remember his jokes, his particular way of facing the difficulties that surrounded us," wrote the Assembly on Facebook.