Santiago Álvarez

Directing·Mar 18, 1919·Havana, Cuba

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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.

Film	Credit
El camino de Santiago: Periodismo, cine y revolución2013 · Santiago Alvarez	Santiago Alvarez
Memória Cubana2010 · Self (archive footage)	Self (archive footage)
Rocha Que Voa2002 · Self (voice)	Self (voice)
Accelerated Under-Development: In the Idiom of Santiago Alvarez1999 · Himself	Himself
HHistoria de una Plaza1989 · Writer, Director	Writer, Director
Brascuba1987 · Writer, Director	Writer, Director
Coarse Salt1984 · Horacio	Horacio
Claves, 4: Memories of Cuban cinema1984 · Self	Self
BBiografía de un carnaval1983 · Writer, Director	Writer, Director
La marcha del pueblo combatiente1980 · Director	Director
The Necessary War1980 · Director	Director
My Brother, Fidel1977 · Director, Writer	Director, Writer
El octubre de todos1977 · Director, Writer	Director, Writer
To Die for Your Country Is to Live Forever1976 · Director	Director
Maputo meridiano novo1976 · Director, Writer	Director, Writer
Luanda ya no es de San Pablo1976 · Writer, Director	Writer, Director
The First Delegate1975 · Director, Writer	Director, Writer
April in Vietnam in the Year of the Cat1975 · Director	Director
[[Opening speech for the retrospective “Cuban Documentary Film”] [excerpt]1974 · Director	Director
EEl milagro de la tierra morena1974 · Actor, Director	Actor, Director
TThe Four Bridges1974 · Director	Director
The New Tango1973 · Writer, Director	Writer, Director
LLa hora de los cerdos1973 · Director	Director
The Tiger Leaps and Kills, But It Will Die... It Will Die...1973 · Director, Writer	Director, Writer
And Heaven Was Taken by Storm1973 · Director	Director
I Am a Son of America1972 · Director	Director
CChe1972 · Director	Director
TThe Stampede1971 · Director	Director
¿Cómo, por qué y para qué se asesina un general?1971 · Director	Director
PPiedra sobre piedra1970 · Director	Director
The Servant's Dream1970 · Director, Screenplay	Director, Screenplay
79 Springs1969 · Director, Writer	Director, Writer
Take-Off at 18:00 Hours1969 · Writer, Director	Writer, Director
Hanoi, Tuesday 13th1969 · Director, Writer	Director, Writer
Noticiero ICAIC Latinoamericano No. 466: Celebration of the VI Amateur World Series in the Dominican Republic. Cuba-USA Final.1969 · Director	Director
NNoticiero ICAIC Latinoamericano, No. 4221968 · Director	Director
LBJ1968 · Director	Director
Hasta la Victoria Siempre1967 · Director	Director
The Forgotten War1967 · Director, Screenplay	Director, Screenplay
Cerro Pelado1966 · Director	Director
Año 7 (Noticiero No. 290)1966 · Director	Director
AAbril de Girón1966 · Director, Writer	Director, Writer
Now!1965 · Director	Director
Solidaridad Cuba y Vietnam1965 · Writer, Director	Writer, Director
Cyclone1964 · Director	Director
Muerte al invasor1962 · Director	Director
CCrisis en el Caribe (Noticiero ICAIC)1962 · Producer, Director, Writer	Producer, Director, Writer
Noticiero ICAIC Latinoamericano1960 · Director	Director