Filmmaker Jonal Cosculluela Dies at the Age of 47 in Havana in Unclear Circumstances

The director starred in a public protest in October last year, which he documented through social networks

Jonal Cosculluela Sánchez was born in Havana in 1977 / Facebook

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, 29 October 2024 — Cuban director Jonal Cosculluela Sánchez died this Monday night at the age of 47 in Havana. The news was spread by the Assembly of Cuban Filmmakers through social networks, without giving the cause of death.

Graduated in Film Direction from the University of the Arts (ISA) in 2010, he went through all levels in the television industry. He was an editor, sound engineer, director and project advisor for cinema and national audiovisual. He mainly worked making series.

With the passage of time and more experience, his career culminated with his first fiction film, “Esteban” (2015), which won awards in different festivals and events. In 2020, he directed, together with Maritza Ceballo, the documentary “Volverán los abrazos” (“The Hugs will Return”), filmed in the middle of the pandemic. The work tells the experience of the Island’s doctors during the COVID-19 pandemic. His filmography also includes titles such as “Asdrúba” (2008), “Altocontraste” (“High Contrast”) (2010) and “Room for Rent” (2010).

Just a few days ago, the filmmaker won the Best Historical Drama award at the prestigious Bombay International Film Festival with “Voces de 1912” (“Voices from 1912”) (2024), which addresses discrimination and racial injustice in Cuba at the beginning of the 20th century.

He denounced the confiscation of a piece of his land due to a legal conflict between state entities

In its message, the Assembly of Cuban Filmmakers highlighted not only the professionalism of the director, but, above all, his humor. “With Jonal we shared time, work, jokes, ideas. We thought, we suffered, we loved the country. We tried to release our own demons through art. We will remember his jokes, his particular way of facing the difficulties that surround us.”

Various personalities of the guild reacted to the news. Critic Juan Antonio García Borrero said on his Facebook profile that “Cuban cinema loses another young and talented director. Someone’s death always hurts, but much more so when there is a way to go. And with “Esteban,” Jonal Cosculluela had already shown his credentials. He left us lots of light with his cinema.”

Another filmmaker, Ricardo Figueredo Oliva, on the other hand, suggested that Cosculluela must have suffered some kind of pressure: “I don’t want to believe that they led you to that. But I might as well believe it, since the motto of the country’s stupid rulers is to subtract and never add. Rest in peace dear filmmaker friend. I already have more than enough pain to continue believing that Cuba is sinking in shit.”

Born in Havana in 1977, the director starred in a public protest in October last year, which he documented through social networks. He denounced that a piece of land he owned at 23rd and 2nd, in El Vedado, Havana was confiscated due to a legal conflict between the state entities of Heritage and Housing.

In the images he shared on his Facebook account you could see the land, occupied by a park. The filmmaker lay down on a park bench and posted: “Sleeping at noon, here at home.” Shortly after, his posts were deleted.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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