Ricardo Bacallao

Ricardo Bacallao is a Cuban-American independent filmmaker, graduated in Cuba in 2003 at the Institute Superior of Art as director of radio, film, and TV and obtained his Master of Fine Arts from the University of NY in 2012.

Currently, he is based between New York and Berlin. Long and short narrative films and documentaries are the body of his work and a series about the Cuban community in Berlin on topics of religion, music, and Cuban exiles since East Germany makes him a well-received expert of that matter. But his work goes beyond just plain Cuban topics, influenced by a 3year period of staying abroad in Singapore during his master’s studies.

His recent films are Searching for Bebo, a Cuban soul in cold lands, a feature film documentary about the jazz legend figure Bebo Valdés (2022), and The Uncle’s Request (2022) a political thriller feature film about hard-line Cubans in the USA, shot entirely in New York City.

He participated in the Berlinale Talent Campus in its first edition in 2003 and once again in 2004. In 2010 he received an Emmy award for his work on Cuny TV, “NY Magazine” and the Cuban-American of the year appreciation from Union City, NJ in 2014.

Source: Ricardo Bacallao

Filmography

1999: Un ángel caído (Aprendices de Van Gogh) (Short)

2003: Mimesis (Short)

2004: Short Radiography of Hip Hop in Cuba (Short)

2006: The Maji-Maji Readings (Short)

2009: Offering to Yemaya: Goddess of the Sea (Short)

2012: The Offering (Short)

2014: Mondongo Cubano (Short)

2014: The Day (Inauguration of Barack Obama) (Short)

2014: Christmas Therapy (Short)

2015: Cubans at the Edge of the Berlin Wall (Documentary)

2016: Bahía de Cochinos: nuestra perspectiva (Medium-length)

2917: Playing Mambo with Mozart (Cuban Music in Berlin) (Short)

2017: Misses Melaza (Cuban Music in Berlin) (Short)

2018: Rafael (Cuban Music in Berlin) (Short)

2018: Amir Valle: Life and Coherency (Medium-length)

2019: Orixa Devotion in Berlin (Feature)

2019: José María Arguedas, un misterio que nos acompaña (Short)

2022: Searching for Bebo: A Cuban Soul in Cold Lands (Feature)

2022: The Uncle’s Request (Feature)

2022: The Maji-Maji Readings (Short, remastered from 2006)

Nominations and Awards

• Emmy Award for his work on CUNY TV, “NY Magazine,” USA, 2010
• Cuban-American of the Year Appreciation Award, Union City, NJ, USA, 2014.