Miriam Talavera wins Cuba National Film Award 2018

by: Granma.cu

“It has been a surprise and a great emotion. It’s a tremendous honor because you never expect it, one always thinks it’s someone else’s turn”, said Miriam.

The editor and director Miriam Talavera has won the National Film Prize 2018, awarded by the Cuban Institute of Cinematographic Art and Industry (ICAIC).

“It has been a surprise and a great emotion. It’s a tremendous honor because you never expect it, you always think it’s someone else’s turn. There are many of us who work in this field, besides, it is a prize that arrived late for some very outstanding people. I’ve been doing what I like to do in my life for 55 years, ” Talavera confessed minutes after hearing the news.

However, the president of the jury, the filmmaker Manuel Pérez Paredes, commented that Talavera has had an extraordinary career linked to great figures of Cuban cinema. “She is the third woman to receive the award and we are very satisfied with the vote,” Paredes said.

With a degree in French Language and Literature from the University of Havana, Talavera worked at the Cuban Institute of Radio and Television from 1962 to 1970 as editor of short films for television. She started working at ICAIC in 1970 as an editor of fiction documentaries and feature films. In 1985, she started as a documentary director while continuing her work in editing. She had the opportunity to work with the most famous directors such as Tomás Gutiérrez Alea (el Titon) and Santiago Álvarez. ‘To a certain point’ and ‘Strawberry and chocolate’ are two of the feature films in which she served as editor.

She has taught editing workshops at the International Film and Television School in Havana, and is a member of the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba (UNEAC). Among her most recent works as an editor is the new film by Gerardo Chijona, ‘Los buenas demonios’.

Link to original report in spanish
Watch on vimeo: Trailer (no english subtitles) for the film Los Buenos Demonios directed by Gerardo Chijona, coproduced by ICAIC (Cuba) and Wanda Vision and Ibermedia (Spain)

Spiral (1992) ICAIC Cuba was directed by Miriam Talavera. It is an approach to a living myth of dance, Alicia Alonso, from the viewpoint of her passion, tenacity and devotion to art. It includes fragments of the ballet Giselle, choreographed by her, based on the original by Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot, and of La Diva, choreographed by Alberto Méndez.