Santiago Álvarez
- Known for
- Directing
- Born
- March 18, 1919
- Died
- May 20, 1998 (aged 79)
- Birthplace
- Havana, Cuba
Biography
Santiago Álvarez Román (March 8, 1919 – May 20, 1998) was a Cuban documentary filmmaker and a central figure in revolutionary Latin American cinema. After studying in the United States, he returned to Cuba in the mid-1940s, where he worked as a music archivist for television and became active in Communist Party circles. Following the Cuban Revolution, he was a founding member of the Cuban Institute of Cinematographic Art and Industry (ICAIC) and went on to direct its influential weekly Latin American Newsreel, shaping a new model of politically engaged documentary production. Álvarez became internationally known for short films that combined found footage, photographs, animation, and music through rapid, associative editing—often described as “nervous montage.” His best-known works include Now! (1964), addressing racial discrimination in the United States; LBJ (1968), a satirical critique of U.S. imperialism; and 79 Springs (1969), a poetic tribute to Ho Chi Minh. In 1968, he collaborated with Fernando Solanas and Octavio Getino on The Hour of the Furnaces, a landmark four-hour documentary on neocolonialism and political struggle in Latin America. Across dozens of films, Álvarez documented music, culture, revolutionary movements, and authoritarian regimes throughout the Americas and beyond. His work influenced generations of political filmmakers, and he was later acknowledged by Jean-Luc Godard in Histoire(s) du cinéma. Álvarez died in Havana in 1998 from Parkinson’s disease and was buried in Colón Cemetery.
Known For
Photos
Filmography
Los Refugiados de la Cueva del Muerto
Movie · Director
Historia de una Plaza
Movie · Director
Brascuba
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Biografía de un carnaval
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The Necessary War
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La marcha del pueblo combatiente
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My Brother, Fidel
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El octubre de todos
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To Die for Your Country Is to Live Forever
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Luanda ya no es de San Pablo
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Maputo meridiano novo
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The First Delegate
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April in Vietnam in the Year of the Cat
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The Four Bridges
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[Opening speech for the retrospective “Cuban Documentary Film”] [excerpt]
Movie · Director
El milagro de la tierra morena
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The Tiger Leaps and Kills, But It Will Die... It Will Die...
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The New Tango
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La hora de los cerdos
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And Heaven Was Taken by Storm
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I Am a Son of America
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Che
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¿Cómo, por qué y para qué se asesina un general?
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The Stampede
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El Drama de Nixon
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The Servant's Dream
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Piedra sobre piedra
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Entrevista al presidente Salvador Allende (Noticiero ICAIC Latinoamericano)
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Hanoi, Tuesday 13th
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79 Springs
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Noticiero ICAIC Latinoamericano No. 466: Celebration of the VI Amateur World Series in the Dominican Republic. Cuba-USA Final.
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Take-Off at 18:00 Hours
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LBJ
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Noticiero ICAIC Latinoamericano, No. 422
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The Forgotten War
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Hasta la Victoria Siempre
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Cerro Pelado
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Año 7 (Noticiero No. 290)
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Abril de Girón
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Now!
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Solidaridad Cuba y Vietnam
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Primeros Juegos Deportivos Nacionales en Cuba (Noticiero ICAIC Latinoamericano)
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Cyclone
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Valentina Tereshkova visita a Cuba (Noticiero ICAIC Latinoamericano)
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Muerte al invasor
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Crisis en el Caribe (Noticiero ICAIC)
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Noticiero ICAIC Latinoamericano
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