Juan Carlos Tabio

Havana, January 18 (RHC)--Renowned Cuban film director and screenwriter Juan Carlos Tabío died in the early hours of Monday, January 18, 2021, in Havana. 

His remains will be cremated, and authorities said they will inform the public later about his funeral.

The Cuban Film Institute (ICAIC) lamented the death of the 2014 National Film Prize laureate.

Born in 1943, Tabío joined the Cuban Film Institute –ICAIC- in 1963. He directed more than 30 short documentaries and feature films.

In 1983, he made his first full-length film "Se permuta", a comedy starring actress, dancer and singer Rosita Fornés.

Tabío’s work includes several other Cuban classics like "Plaff" (1988), “Lista de espera” (The Waiting List (2000) and “El cuerno de la abundancia” (The Horn of Plenty) (2008).

Together with another great Cuban filmmaker, the also late Tomás Gutiérrez Alea "Titón”, Juan Carlos Tabío co-directed two films –"Fresa y chocolate” (Strawberry and Chocolate) (1993) and “Guantanamera” (1995).

Strawberry and Chocolate won a Silver Bear - Special Jury Prize at the 44th Berlin International Film Festival and was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

Other films include “El elefante y la bicicleta” (The Elephant and the Bicycle) (1994), “Aunque estés lejos” (Though You are far away) (2003), and “Siete días en La Habana” (Seven Days in Havana) (2012).
Besides his vast work as a film director and screenwriter, Tabío was a professor at the International Film, Television and Video School in San Antonio de los Baños.