Marcos Zurinaga (September 6, 1952 in

San Juan, Puerto Rico San Juan (, , ; Spanish for "Saint John") is the capital city and most populous municipality in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2020 census, it is the 57th-largest city under the ...

) is a Puerto Rican

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, pr ...

, screenwriter and

cinematographer The cinematographer or director of photography (sometimes shortened to DP or DOP) is the person responsible for the photographing or recording of a film, television production, music video or other live action piece. The cinematographer is the ch ...

Biography

His late mother was UPR professor Rosa Zurinaga. He studied at the UPR Elementary School, University High School (UHS) and obtained his B.A. at UPR in 1972. He joined Puerto Rican filmmaker

Roberto Gándara Roberto Gándara González (born 16 April 1990) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays for Palencia CF as a midfielder. Club career Born in Salamanca, Gándara graduated from the youth academy of local UD Salamanca and made his debut fo ...

upon graduation, setting aside plans to study a master's degree, founding the film company Zaga Films. Among the several movies that he has directed is '' La Gran Fiesta'', a movie about the last grand party at the " Casino de Puerto Rico" building in

Old San Juan Old San Juan ( es, Viejo San Juan) is a historic district located at the "northwest triangle" of the islet of San Juan. Its area roughly correlates to the Ballajá, Catedral, Marina, Mercado, San Cristóbal, and San Francisco sub-barrios (s ...

, before it was turned over to military use as the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

was drawn into

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, and ''

A Step Away ''A Step Away'' is an Official Olympic Film, a documentary filmed during the VIIIth Pan American Games held in San Juan, Puerto Rico, from July 1 to July 15, 1979. It was produced and directed by Roberto Ponce and co-directed by Marcos Zurinaga. ...

'', a 1980 critically acclaimed movie narrated by

Orson Welles George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter, known for his innovative work in film, radio and theatre. He is considered to be among the greatest and most influential f ...

. In 1996 came an unusual movie in Zurinaga's filmography, the thriller-mystery film ''

The Disappearance of Garcia Lorca ''The Disappearance of Garcia Lorca'' is a 1996 Spanish-American drama-biographical film directed by Marcos Zurinaga. It is based on a book by Ian Gibson about the life and murder of Spanish poet Federico García Lorca. It stars Andy García as ...

''.''The Disappearance of García Lorca''
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Filmography

* ''Siempre estuvimos aquí'' (director) 1977 * ''Alicia Alonso y el ballet Nacional de Cuba'' (16 mm, color, 90 mins. Director) 1979 * ''

'' (35 mm, color, 120 mins. Director. Roberto Ponce Producer) 1980 * '' La Gran Fiesta'' (35 mm, color, 100 mins. Director, Producer and screenwriter) 1985 * '' Tango Bar'' (35 mm, color. Director, Producer and Screenwriter) 1987 * '' A flor de piel'' (35 mm, color, 80 mins. Director) 1990 * ''Puerto Rico'' (70 mm, color, 15 mins. Director and Producer) 1992 * ''Un pueblo que canta-a''

Banco Popular de Puerto Rico Popular, Inc., doing business as Banco Popular in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands and as Popular Bank in the mainland United States, is a financial services conglomerate that has operated in Puerto Rico for over 125 years and in the mainland ...

Christmas special (Video. Director) 1994 * ''El espíritu de un pueblo-a''

Christmas special (Video. Director) 1995 * ''Somos un solo pueblo-a''

Christmas special (Video. Director) 1996 * ''

'' (35 mm, color. Director, Screenwriter and Producer) 1996 * ''Siempre Piel Canela'' (Video. Director) 1998 * '' Mariela y otras historias'' Director. Caesar Osiris 2010

References

Puerto Rican film directors Living people Year of birth missing (living people) {{PuertoRico-bio-stub