Nicolás Guillén Landrián (1938 in Camagüey, Cuba - July 23, 2003
in Miami, Florida) was a Cuban experimental filmmaker and
painter.Guillén was an accomplished filmmaker. He made a total of 13
documentaries, although they were heavily censored and prevented from
being part of the Cuban film industry. In 1964, he was given a special
award at the Krakow Film Festival for his film En un barrio viejo. In
1968, his documentary Coffea Arabiga featured the Beatles' song "The
Fool on the Hill" as Fidel Castro appeared on screen. That same year,
Guillén was accused of plotting to assassinate Castro. The Cuban
government interrogated him for six months in Villa Marista. From 1970
to 1989, he was repeatedly jailed and institutionalized. He received
at least eight treatments of electroconvulsive therapy, never under
sedation.As painter, he taught René Portocarrero and Victor Miquel
Moreno Piñeiro in painting.In 1989, he was able to leave Cuba and
lived the rest of his life in Miami, Florida. He died of cancer at
Mercy Hospital in Miami. After his death, his widow had his body flown
from Miami and entombed in Colon Cemetery, Havana in Cuba. His uncle
was Afro-Cuban poet Nicolás Guillén. Filmmakers Victor R. Jiménez
Sosa, and Jorge Egusquiza produced a biographical documentary of
Nicolás Guillén Landrián in his own words, Nicolás: the end but
not the end, by Coincident Productions (2005).
in Miami, Florida) was a Cuban experimental filmmaker and
painter.Guillén was an accomplished filmmaker. He made a total of 13
documentaries, although they were heavily censored and prevented from
being part of the Cuban film industry. In 1964, he was given a special
award at the Krakow Film Festival for his film En un barrio viejo. In
1968, his documentary Coffea Arabiga featured the Beatles' song "The
Fool on the Hill" as Fidel Castro appeared on screen. That same year,
Guillén was accused of plotting to assassinate Castro. The Cuban
government interrogated him for six months in Villa Marista. From 1970
to 1989, he was repeatedly jailed and institutionalized. He received
at least eight treatments of electroconvulsive therapy, never under
sedation.As painter, he taught René Portocarrero and Victor Miquel
Moreno Piñeiro in painting.In 1989, he was able to leave Cuba and
lived the rest of his life in Miami, Florida. He died of cancer at
Mercy Hospital in Miami. After his death, his widow had his body flown
from Miami and entombed in Colon Cemetery, Havana in Cuba. His uncle
was Afro-Cuban poet Nicolás Guillén. Filmmakers Victor R. Jiménez
Sosa, and Jorge Egusquiza produced a biographical documentary of
Nicolás Guillén Landrián in his own words, Nicolás: the end but
not the end, by Coincident Productions (2005).
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