Person
Santiago Álvarez
Havana, Cuba
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 S…
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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.
Filmography
Movies and shows, newest first
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2019
Éter
Movie Sound
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2013
El camino de Santiago: Periodismo, cine y revolución
Movie Santiago Alvarez
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2010
Memória Cubana
Movie Self (archive footage)
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2002
Rocha Que Voa
Movie Self (voice)
- 1999
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1989
Historia de una Plaza
Movie Director
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1987
Brascuba
Movie Director
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1984
Coarse Salt
Movie Horacio
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1984
Claves, 4: Memories of Cuban cinema
Movie Self
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1983
Biografía de un carnaval
Movie Director
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1980
La marcha del pueblo combatiente
Movie Director
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1980
The Necessary War
Movie Director
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1977
My Brother, Fidel
Movie Director
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1977
El octubre de todos
Movie Director
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1976
To Die for Your Country Is to Live Forever
Movie Director
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1976
Luanda ya no es de San Pablo
Movie Director
More credits
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1976
Maputo meridiano novo
Movie Director
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1975
April in Vietnam in the Year of the Cat
Movie Director
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1975
The First Delegate
Movie Director
- 1974
- 1974
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1974
The Four Bridges
Movie Director
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1973
The New Tango
Movie Director
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1973
La hora de los cerdos
Movie Director
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1973
The Tiger Leaps and Kills, But It Will Die... It Will Die...
Movie Director
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1973
And Heaven Was Taken by Storm
Movie Director
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1972
I Am a Son of America
Movie Director
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1972
Che
Movie Director
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1971
The Stampede
Movie Director
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1971
El Drama de Nixon
Movie Director
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1971
¿Cómo, por qué y para qué se asesina un general?
Movie Director
- 1970
-
1970
Piedra sobre piedra
Movie Director
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1970
The Servant's Dream
Movie Director
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1969
79 Springs
Movie Director
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1969
Take-Off at 18:00 Hours
Movie Director
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1969
Hanoi, Tuesday 13th
Movie Director
- 1969
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1968
Noticiero ICAIC Latinoamericano, No. 422
Movie Director
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1968
LBJ
Movie Director
