La despedida

In his graduation documentary for the Cuban film school EICTV, Alejandro Alonso Estrella portrays an elderly former miner still living on the premises of the mine where he spent his entire working life.

Images of great photographic quality contrast the lively household—he shares the modest home with his daughter and her young sons—with the waning energy of the old man. He spends his days smoking cigars, playing cards with his grandson, taking frequent naps and making occasional visits to the now closed and dilapidated mine. Aware of the fact that his time is almost up, he seeks to hold on to the past.

After its premiere at IDFA in 2014, La despedida went on to win the Best Short Documentary Award at Gibara Film Festival (Cuba) and received awards at a number of student film festivals in Europe and Latin America, marking the beginning of a promising path for Alonso Estrella. His mid-length documentary Terranova (co-directed with Alejandro Perez) won a Tiger Short Award at International Film Festival Rotterdam in 2021, and that same year his short documentary Abisal received a Golden Dove at DOK Leipzig.