Santiago Álvarez
Biography
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.
Personal Details
Movies (50)
Éter
Sound (Sound)
2019
El camino de Santiago: Periodismo, cine y revolución
as Santiago Alvarez
2013
Memória Cubana
as Self (archive footage)
2010
Rocha Que Voa
as Self (voice)
2002
Accelerated Under-Development: In the Idiom of Santiago Alvarez
as Himself
1999
Historia de una Plaza
Director (Directing)
1989
Brascuba
Director (Directing)
1987
Coarse Salt
as Horacio
1984
Biografía de un carnaval
Director (Directing)
1983
The Necessary War
Director (Directing)
1980
My Brother, Fidel
Director (Directing)
1977
El octubre de todos
Director (Directing)
1977
To Die for Your Country Is to Live Forever
Director (Directing)
1976
Luanda ya no es de San Pablo
Director (Directing)
1976
Maputo meridiano novo
Director (Directing)
1976
The First Delegate
Director (Directing)
1975
April in Vietnam in the Year of the Cat
Director (Directing)
1975
[Opening speech for the retrospective “Cuban Documentary Film”] [excerpt]
Director (Directing)
1974
El milagro de la tierra morena
1974
The Four Bridges
Director (Directing)
1974
The New Tango
Director (Directing)
1973
La hora de los cerdos
Director (Directing)
1973
The Tiger Leaps and Kills, But It Will Die... It Will Die...
Director (Directing)
1973
And Heaven Was Taken by Storm
Director (Directing)
1973
I Am a Son of America
Director (Directing)
1972
Che
Director (Directing)
1972
The Stampede
Director (Directing)
1971
¿Cómo, por qué y para qué se asesina un general?
Director (Directing)
1971
Piedra sobre piedra
Director (Directing)
1970
The Servant's Dream
Director (Directing)
1970
79 Springs
Director (Directing)
1969
Take-Off at 18:00 Hours
Director (Directing)
1969
Hanoi, Tuesday 13th
Director (Directing)
1969
Noticiero ICAIC Latinoamericano No. 466: Celebration of the VI Amateur World Series in the Dominican Republic. Cuba-USA Final.
Director (Directing)
1969
Noticiero ICAIC Latinoamericano, No. 422
Director (Directing)
1968
LBJ
Director (Directing)
1968
Hasta la Victoria Siempre
Director (Directing)
1967
The Forgotten War
Director (Directing)
1967
Cerro Pelado
Director (Directing)
1966
Año 7 (Noticiero No. 290)
Director (Directing)
1966
Abril de Girón
Director (Directing)
1966
Now!
Director (Directing)
1965
Solidaridad Cuba y Vietnam
Director (Directing)
1965
Cyclone
Director (Directing)
1964
Muerte al invasor
Editor (Editing)
1962
Crisis en el Caribe
Director (Directing)
1962
Noticiero ICAIC Latinoamericano
Director (Directing)
1960
Carnival
Production Manager (Production)
1960
El Tomate
Producer (Production)
1959
Towards Unity and Victory
1937