
Fernando Pérez Valdés (born 19 November 1944) is a prominent
Cuba
Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...
n film director.
Career
Pérez graduated from the
University of Havana
The University of Havana (UH; ) is a public university located in the Vedado district of Havana, the capital of Cuba. Founded on 5 January 1728, the university is the oldest in Cuba, and one of the first to be founded in the Americas. Originall ...
with a degree in Language and Spanish Literature, and began working in the
Cuban film industry in 1971 as an assistant director, before directing his first documentary in 1975.
His feature debut was the drama ''
Clandestinos'' (1987) but it was not until ''
Madagascar
Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...
'' (1994) that he garnered significant international recognition. Pérez later directed ''
La Vida es Silbar'' (1998) and ''
Suite Habana'' (2003). ''Suite Habana'' is considered by some critics to be the best Cuban film in decades. ''
Variety'' hailed it as "A lyrical, meticulously-crafted and unexpectedly melancholy homage to the battered but resilient inhabitants of a battered but
resilient city." His most recent film called ''Madrigal'' tells a story about life in the theater world. His next film was a biopic that covered the childhood and early teenage years of Cuban national hero Jose Marti entitled Marti: El ojo del Canario, which premiered in 2010 and earned several awards in the film Festival Circuit. In recent years he completed La Pared de las Palabras (2014), Ultimos Dias en la Habana (2016) and Insumisa (2018).
In the spring term 2016 Pérez was the fifth Friedrich Dürrenmatt Guest Professor for World Literature
at the
University of Bern
The University of Bern (, , ) is a public university, public research university in the Switzerland, Swiss capital of Bern. It was founded in 1834. It is regulated and financed by the canton of Bern. It is a comprehensive university offering a br ...
.
Selected filmography
*''
Clandestinos'' (1987)
*''
Hello Hemingway'' (1990)
*''
Madagascar
Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...
'' (1994)
*''
Life Is to Whistle'' (1998)
*''
Suite Habana'' (2003)
*''
Last Days in Havana
''Last Days in Havana'' () is a 2016 Cuban drama film directed and co-written by Fernando Pérez. It was screened in the Berlinale Special section at the 67th Berlin International Film Festival. In 2017 it won the Havana Star Prize for Best Fil ...
'' (2016)
References
External links
Full Filmography and awards list at ICAIC's (Cuban Film Industry) Official Website*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Perez, Fernando
Cuban film directors
Living people
1944 births
University of Havana alumni