Eduardo del Llano

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Eduardo del Llano (2013)

Eduardo del Llano Rodríguez (born October 9, 1962 in Moscow ) is a Cuban writer, cinema director, actor and film producer. He is particularly successful internationally as a screenwriter for Cuban cinema comedies. Since 2004 he has attracted a lot of attention, especially with a series of self-produced satirical short films in which he critically examines political and social aspects of everyday Cuban life.

Childhood, education and teaching

Eduardo del Llano's parents came from the western Cuban province of Pinar del Río . His father, Eduardo del Llano Marante (1931-2010), had founded the regional group of the revolutionary movement of July 26th proclaimed by Fidel Castro in 1955 and participated in the underground armed struggle against the rule of Fulgencio Batista . With the victory of the revolutionaries, Del Llano Marante went to Havana in 1959 and belonged to the first contingent of Cuban students who were sent to the Soviet Union to train at the CPSU party college after Castro's open turn to Marxism-Leninism . His pregnant Cuban wife accompanied him and so Eduardo del Llano Rodríguez was born in Moscow in 1962, where he spent the first two years of his life. Del Llano has lived in Havana since 1964, his father was a researcher and professor for the political economy of socialism and a member of the Communist Party who has received several orders of merit .

Eduardo del Llano attended the elite high school Escuela Vocacional "Vladímir Illich Lenin" from 1974 to 1980 and then studied art history at the University of Havana , where he obtained a licentiate in 1985 . At the International College for Cinema and Television (EICTV) in San Antonio de los Baños he took part in international expert workshops for feature film dramaturgy in 1995 and 1996 .

From 1987 to 1990 he worked in the directorates for public relations and amateur artists of the Cuban Ministry of Culture. From 1990 to 1995 he taught as a lecturer in Latin American art history and the history of photography at the University of Havana, specializing in pre-Columbian art . In 2000 he held scriptwriting workshops in Managua and New York . From 2003 to 2005 he worked at EICTV as a consultant and reviewer for the final theses in the subject of directing.

Eduardo del Llano lived in Madrid for a year from the end of 2006 and has been back in Havana since his return. Del Llano is the father of two daughters and one grandson.

Artistic work

Comedian and writer

Together with college friends, he founded the comedian group Grupo Nos y Otros (GNYO), which he led, with whom he performed on stages in various parts of Cuba until they broke up in 1997 and published a short story book, a novel and a play between 1992 and 2010. His formative comedic influences include Monty Python , Woody Allen and the Argentine cabaret artists Les Luthiers . Since 1993 Del Llano has published texts under his own name, including several volumes of short stories and novels, but also poems and a children's book. Several of his books have been published in Spain so far, and translations of some of his works into German and Italian have also appeared.

Screenwriter

Grupo Nos y Otros were contacted in 1987 by the cinema director Daniel Díaz Torres , who proposed the filming of three of the group's short stories. In the course of the discussions, however, the episode film project was discarded and instead the idea arose to use one of the stories written by Del Llano as the basis for the entire film. This is how the society satire Alicia in the place of miracles was created , in which Del Llano, with the involvement of Jesús Díaz , took the lead as a screenwriter for the first time. The film was awarded the Peace Film Prize at the Berlinale in 1991 , but was rejected by the responsible cultural authorities in Cuba itself and was no longer allowed to be shown in Cuban cinemas a few days after its premiere. The scandal triggered by the film within the Cuban State Film Institute (ICAIC) resulted in the dismissal of the institute director, the meanwhile subordinate the institute to the direct control of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and protests by artists and filmmakers.

Together with director Díaz Torres, Del Llano subsequently wrote other comedy scripts, including for the German-Cuban co-productions Kleines Tropikana and Der Kuba-Coup , Lisanka , as well as the Austrian-Cuban co-production Lügen in Cuban . With other directors he wrote the scripts for Das Leben, ein Pfeifen und Madrigal (directed by Fernando Pérez ), Perfecto amor equivocado ( Gerardo Chijona ) and Óscar. Una pasión surrealista ( Lucas Fernández ).

Director, producer and actor

In 2004 Del Llano began to film a series of his own satirical short stories, independently of the ICAIC and with his own funds from the one-man production company "Sex Machine", which he founded. Del Llano's low-budget shorts feature some of the most prominent Cuban film actors, including Jorge Perugorría , Paula Alí and Vladímir Cruz . At the center of a series of stories that began with Monte Rouge is the tragic hero Nicanor O'Donnell, played by Luis Alberto García , who, as an average citizen of Havana, has to deal with absurd situations that skilfully exaggerate the specifically Cuban everyday life. With biting humor, some of the short films are devoted to politically sensitive topics such as the State Security Service, the press and the democratic deficit within the only ruling Communist Party, something that no Cuban filmmaker had dared to do in a similar form before Del Llano. As a rule, the films do not reach their audiences through public performances, but are mainly distributed as digital copies, including among Cubans living abroad with internet access. Del Llano opposed reports from foreign media that attributed subversive intentions to his short films. As an independent filmmaker, in addition to his well-known short films, he also made the longer documentaries GNYO and Peña .

In addition to his own productions, Del Llano continues to work under the umbrella of the state film institute. With the ICAIC he made a serious feature film with Vinci for the first time in the role of director in 2011 . When the drama, which uses the young Leonardo da Vinci's imprisonment as a historical background, was rejected as a competition entry by the Havana Film Festival on the grounds that it was not a Latin American work, Del Llano had a dispute with those responsible, which he documented for the public on his internet blog. The controversy gave rise to critical comments on the lack of transparency of the selection criteria and the power of the long-time festival president Alfredo Guevara . Del Llano's film Omega 3 premiered in Havana in August 2014 , the first science fiction production in the history of Cuban cinema.

In some of the films in which he was involved as a screenwriter or director, Del Llano also took on (mostly minor) acting roles. He has participated in numerous international film festivals and was a jury member at the Freiburg 2002 and Innsbruck 2003 festivals .

Filmography

Feature films

  • Alicia in the Place of Miracles (Alicia en el pueblo de maravillas, 1991): Author (together with director Daniel Díaz Torres, Grupo Nos y Otros, and with Jesús Díaz )
  • Little Tropikana (Tropicanita, 1997): Author (together with director Daniel Díaz Torres)
  • Life, a whistle (La vida es silbar, 1998): author (together with director Fernando Pérez)
  • The Cuba Coup (Hacerse el sueco, 2000): Author (together with director Daniel Díaz Torres)
  • Dalí Salvador? (2001): Author (Director: Fernando Timossi)
  • Perfecto Amor equivocado (2001): Author (together with director Gerardo Chijona)
  • Madrigal (2006): Author (together with director Fernando Pérez)
  • Óscar: una pasión surrealista (2008): Author (together with director Lucas Fernández)
  • Lisanka (2009): author (together with director Daniel Díaz Torres), actor
  • Vinci (2011): director, author, extra
  • Lies in Cuban (La película de Ana, 2012): author (together with director Daniel Díaz Torres), extra
  • Omega 3 (2014): director, writer

Fictional short films

Nicanor series

  • Monte Rouge (2004): director, writer, producer, actor
  • High Tech (2005): director, writer, producer
  • Photoshop (2006): director, writer, producer
  • Homo Sapiens (2006): director, writer, producer
  • Intermezzo (2008): director, writer, producer
  • Brainstorm (2009): director, writer, producer
  • Pas de Quatre (2009): director, writer, producer
  • Aché (2010): director, writer, producer
  • Pravda (2010): director, writer, producer
  • Exit (2011): director, writer, producer
  • Arte (2015): director, writer, producer
  • Épica (2015): director, writer, producer
  • Dominó (2017): director, writer, producer
  • Rállame la zanahoria (2018): director, writer, producer
  • Dos Veteranos (2019): director, writer, producer, actor

Others

  • Cubanos en primer plano: Sidra Casanova (2009): director, writer, producer
  • Democrac (2011): director, writer, producer
  • La verdad acerca del G2 (2012): director, writer, producer
  • Casting (2013): director, writer, producer, actor
  • No somos nada (2014): director, writer, producer
  • La leyenda de los abominables hombres de confianza (2016): director, writer, producer, actor

Documentation

  • GNYO (2009): director, writer, producer
  • Peña (2012): director, writer, producer
  • Stones pa 'ti (2016): director, writer, producer

Book publications

  • Cuentos de relaxo I y II , short stories, in collaboration with Nos y Otros, Havanna: Abril, 1992
  • Nostalgia de la babosa , poems, Havana: April, 1993
  • El elefantico verde , Stories for Children, Havana: April, 1993
  • Aventuras del caballero del Miembro Encogido , Roman, in collaboration with Nos y Otros, Havana: April, 1993
  • Los doce apóstatas , Roman, Havana: Letras Cubanas, 1994, ISBN 9591001037
  • Basura y otros desperdicios, short story, in collaboration with Luis Felipe Calvo, Havana: Letras Cubanas, 1994
  • Virus, novel, in collaboration with Luis Felipe Calvo, Havana: Abril, 1994
  • Criminales, Science Fiction Narrative, Havana: Abril, 1994
  • La clessidra di Nicanor, Roman, Florence : Giunti, 1997 (Italian)
  • El beso y el plan, short story, Havana: Letras Cubanas, 1997, ISBN 9591003552
  • Obstáculo, Roman, Havana: Letras Cubanas, 1997, ISBN 9591003110
  • Un libro sucio, short stories, in collaboration with Luis Felipe Calvo, Santa Clara : Capiro, 1998
  • Cabeza de ratón, short story, Havana: Abril, 1998, ISBN 9592101426
  • Los viajes de Nicanor, short stories, Havana: Extramuros, 2000
  • Tres, Roman, Havana: Letras Cubanas, 2002

Anthologies

Prizes and awards

  • 1988 and 1992: "Abril" Culture Prize of the Unión de Jóvenes Comunistas (Havana)
  • 1996: Italo Calvino Literature Prize for Cuban novelists (Havana)
  • 1997: "Calendario" Prize for young writers from the Asociación Hermanos Saíz (Havana)
  • 1998: Award for the best story from Revolución y Cultura magazine (Havana)
  • 2007: Best Screenplay Award at Los Angeles International Latino Film Festival for Madrigal (Los Angeles, USA )
  • 2008: Award for the best screenplay at the Cine Latino Festival in Paris for Óscar: una pasión surrealista (Paris, France )
  • 2009: Special prize of the jury of the foreign press and special mention of the jury fiction for direction and screenplay at the low-budget film festival of Gibara for Brainstorm (Gibara, Cuba)
  • 2009: Award as best short film of the year by the Cuban Association of Cinema Press for Brainstorm (Havana)
  • 2010: Prize for the best short film of the Lebu Film Festival for Brainstorm (Lebu, Chile )
  • 2010: Award for the best script from the Cuenca Film Festival for Lisanka ( Ecuador )
  • 2010: 1st prize in the audiovisual segment at the Aquelarre humor festival for the short films Aché and Pravda (Havana)
  • 2012: Award for the best screenplay of the Gramado Film Festival for Vinci ( Gramado , Brazil )
  • 2012: "Coral" Award for Best Screenplay of the International Festival of New Latin American Films for Lies in Cuban (Havana)
  • 2013: "Coral" award for the best short film of the International Festival of New Latin American Film for Casting (Havana)
  • 2016: Special jury award for the best unpublished feature-length film script (fiction) at the Gibara low-budget film festival for making
  • 2018: Cuban Alejo Carpentier National Prize for the as yet unpublished novel El enemigo .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Eduardo del Llano: Tipos duros , blog post from August 15, 2011, accessed on May 31, 2013 (Spanish)
  2. ↑ Eduardo del Llano Marante , in the official Cuban online encyclopedia EcuRed , accessed on May 31, 2013 (Spanish)
  3. ↑ Eduardo del Llano: Mi pelo , in his blog Eduardodelllano.com from August 27, 2013 (Spanish)
  4. ↑ Eduardo del Llano: Teotihuacán , in his own blog from September 9, 2014, accessed on September 10, 2014 (Spanish)
  5. ↑ Eduardo del Llano: Nostalgia de Monty Python , blog entry from August 2, 2011, accessed on May 31, 2013 (Spanish)
  6. ↑ Peace Film Prize 1991 (PDF; 42 kB), with the jury's reasoning, on the website friedensfilm.de , accessed on May 31, 2013
  7. ^ A b Bert Hoffmann: Civil Society 2.0 ?: How the Internet Changes State-Society Relations in Authoritarian Regimes: The Case of Cuba ( Memento of the original from March 2, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 338 kB), p. 16, accessed on May 30, 2013 (English)  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.giga-hamburg.de
  8. ↑ Normality according to the “Periodo Especial” , in: Latin America News from November 2001, accessed on June 27, 2015
  9. ↑ Under Fidel's thumb . In: Spiegel, October 7, 1991, accessed September 16, 2013
  10. ↑ Geri Krebs: An almost forgotten cinematography , in: Neue Zürcher Zeitung of December 31, 2009, accessed on May 30, 2013
  11. ↑ Fernando Ravsberg: Video clandestino hace furor en Cuba , in: BBC Mundo of February 17, 2005, accessed on September 2, 2013 (Spanish)
  12. ↑ Fernando Ravsberg: El cine desnuda a la prensa , in: BBC Mundo of April 30, 2009, accessed on September 2, 2013 (Spanish)
  13. ↑ Geri Krebs: Less by the sea , in: Friday of December 24, 2004, accessed on May 31, 2013
  14. ↑ Bert Hoffmann: Civil society in the digital age: how the internet changes state-society relations in authoritarian regimes: the case of Cuba, p. 230 in: Francesco Cavatorta (ed.): Civil Society Activism under Authoritarian Rule, Routledge, Abingdon 2013 (english)
  15. ↑ Del Llano offers three of the short films on its official website ( Memento of the original from August 4, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. for free viewing. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / eduardodelllano.wordpress.com
  16. ↑ Peter B. Schumann: Kuba transparent im Internet , in: Deutschlandradio Kultur from December 28, 2010, accessed on May 30, 2013
  17. ↑ Vanessa Bauza: Film satirizes life in tragic absurdity , in: South Florida Sun-Sentinel of March 6, 2005, accessed via latinamericanstudies.org on May 30, 2013 (English)
  18. ↑ Yoani Sánchez : Cuba's Great Filmmaker, Eduardo Del Llano, Censored at Annual Film Festival in Havana , in: Huffington Post of November 18, 2011, accessed on May 30, 2013 (English)
  19. ↑ Geri Krebs: Havana Film Festival: Leonardo in the prison cell , in: WOZ from January 12, 2012, accessed on May 30, 2013
  20. ↑ Dossier Vinci and Dossier Vinci (segunda parte) on Del Llanos website, accessed on May 30, 2013 (Spanish)
  21. ↑ Alfredo Guevara afirma que el Festival de La Habana no privilegia a candidatos de Cuba , in: Cuba Encuentro of 15 November 2011, retrieved (Spanish) on May 30, 2013
  22. ↑ Regina Coyula: Tres lindas cubanas no bailan en el Festival del Nuevo Cine Latinoamericano , in the blog Mala Letra from November 25, 2011, accessed on May 30, 2013 (Spanish)
  23. ↑ Ernesto Morales: “Vinci”: Leonardo y Mick Jagger contra el Guajirismo Intelectual , in the blog: El Pequeño Hermano from November 16, 2011, accessed on May 30, 2013 (Spanish)
  24. ↑ Yoani Sánchez: The dark side of the festival ( Memento of the original from October 19, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , on the Generation Y blog on November 17, 2011, accessed May 30, 2013  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.desdecuba.com
  25. ↑ Víctor Ariel González: 'Omega 3' o la disidencia alimentaria, in: 14ymedio of August 26, 2014 (Spanish)
  26. ↑ Eduardo del Llano rueda 'Omega 3', the primer largometraje cubano de ciencia ficción. In: Diario de Cuba of October 17, 2013 (Spanish)
personal data
SURNAME Llano, Eduardo del
ALTERNATIVE NAMES del Llano Rodríguez, Eduardo (full name); Del Llano, Eduardo
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Cuban writer and film director
DATE OF BIRTH October 9, 1962
PLACE OF BIRTH Moscow