© Miguel Coyula

Miguel Coyula (Havana, March 31, 1977) is an independent Cuban film director and writer. He graduated from the International School of Film and Television (EICTV) of San Antonio de los Baños, Cuba. He made several short and medium-length films before his first feature Red Cockroaches, which was described by Variety magazine as “a triumph of technology in the hands of a visionary.” Coyula has made his feature films outside the Cuban film industry, exercising various disciplines, usually taking several years to finish.

For his second feature, Memorias del desarrollo, based on the novel by Edmundo Desnoes, Coyula was awarded a Guggenheim grant. Premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, the film has won numerous international awards and was chosen by the International Film Guide as the best Cuban film of 2010.

In 2013, La Pereza Ediciones published his first novel Mar Rojo, Mal Azul. In 2015 he made the short film Psique and the web series Rafael Alcides, the starting point for the documentary Nadie (2017). After its premiere at the Dominican Global Film Festival, where it obtained the award for Best Documentary, Coyula tried to screen it in Havana in a private gallery. The event was canceled due to a police raid. He recently premiered his third fiction feature film, Corazón Azul (2021), at the Moscow International Film Festival.

He has presented his work and given talks in several American universities over the years, including Yale, Princeton, Tulane, Emerson, Cornell UW, UM, and Rice, among others.

He currently lives in Havana, but his work is currently banned in Cuba.

Filmography

1996: Pirámide

1997: Válvula de luz

1998: Detalles

1998: Idea

1999: Buena onda

1999: Bailar sobre agujas

2000: Clase Z Tropical

2001: El Tenedor plástico

2003: Cucarachas rojas

2010: Memorias del Desarrollo

2017: Nadie

2021: Corazón Azul

Nominations and Awards

Clase Z “Tropical”

  • FIPRESCI Award, Festival Almacén de la Imagen, Cuba, 2000
  • Best Experimental Video, Encuentro Nacional de Video, Cuba, 2001

Cucarachas rojas

  • Best Feature, Festival Almacén de la Imagen, Cuba, 2003
  • Special Mention, Festival Internazionale de la Fantascienza, Italy, 2004
  • Best Film, Microcinema Festival, USA, 2004
  • Gran Premio Plaza, Festival Cineplaza, Cuba 2004
  • Special Jury Award, Muestra de Jóvenes Realizadores, Cuba, 2004
  • Special Mention for Visual Concept, Buenos Aires Rojo Sangre, Argentina, 2004
  • Best Editing, Encuentro Nacional de Video, Cuba, 2004
  • Best Editing, Fearless Tales Genre Festival, USA, 2005
  • GreenCine Online Film Festival, New Media Film Festival, USA, 2005

 Memorias del desarrollo

  • Most Innovative, Cero Latitud Film Festival, Ecuador, 2010
  • Best Narrative Feature, Dallas Video Fest, USA, 2010
  • Best Feature, New Media Film Festival, USA 2010
  • Special Mention, Cine Las Americas International Film Festival, USA, 2010
  • Best Film, Havana Film Festival New York, USA, 2010
  • Best Director of Latin American Section, Málaga Film Festival, Spain 2011
  • Best Film, Muestra Nacional de Nuevos Realizadores, Cuba, 2011
  • Special Award, Premios ACE, USA, 2011
  • Cine Latino Award, Washington DC Independent Film Festival, USA, 2011
  • Audience Award for Best Foreign Film, Mostra Principal, Arraial CineFest, Brazil, 2012

Nadie

  • Best Documentary. Festival Cine Global Dominicano, Dominical Republic, 2017
  • Best Experimental Film, Arraial Cine Fest, Brazil, 2019

Corazón Azul

  • Nominated for the Golden St.George Award, Moscow International Film Festival, Russia, 2021
  • Jorge Cámara Award, HFPA (Hollywood Foreign Press Association). Festival Internacional de Cine en Guadalajara, Mexico, 2021
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