Miguel Coyula Aquino (born March 31, 1977 in Havana) is a Cuban filmmaker and writer. At age 17, he made his first short with a VHS camcorder, which led to his admittance to Escuela Internacional de Cine y Television (The International Film and Television School) of San Antonio de los Baños, Cuba (EICTV). Since then he has won awards in his country with his short films Bailar Sobre Agujas (1999), Buena Onda, (1999), and Clase Z "Tropical" (2000). His work has always been shot on very low budgets, his features taking several years to complete, using heavy digital manipulation in postproduction.In 2000, he traveled to the United States on an invitation from the Providence Latino Film Festival. While visiting New York, he met Anna Strasberg of the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute and after screening his thesis film was offered a scholarship. While attending the Strasberg Institute, Coyula made his first feature, Red Cockroaches (2003), for less than $2000 over a two-year period. The film was described by Variety as "a triumph of technology in the hands of a visionary with know-how..." The film won over twenty awards in film festivals around the world.In 2009, Coyula was awarded the Guggenheim Fellowship by The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation for developing his second feature, the film Memories of Overdevelopment, a follow-up to the Cuban classic Memorias del Subdesarrollo (1968), based on the novel by Cuban writer Edmundo Desnoes. After its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, the film went to gather several awards and honors. The International Film Guide described it as one of the best films Cuba has produced. After the Guggenheim Fellowship ended in 2010, Coyula began working on his third feature, Corazon Azul (Blue Heart). In 2013 La Pereza Ediciones published his first novel Mar Rojo, Mal Azul.
His films are set on an alternative reality, with futuristic and surreal elements.
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Quote
1
You can't buy talent with technology.
2
I cannot deal with realism. If I wanted realism, I'd go and see a documentary. I feel compelled to build the reality the way I want to see it.
3
I think of the little pieces as a self contained film. Then, when the small pieces finds its shape; I start treating them as a whole of their own.
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Fact
1
His thesis film, Buena Onda (1999), was considered by a teacher one of the worse films in the history of the school. One year after a prolific round of Cuban and US Film Festivals, the same film won him a scholarship to study for 1 year at the Lee Strasberg Theater Institute in New York.
Director
Title
Year
Status
Character
Corazón Azul
2018
filming
Nadie
2017
Documentary
Rafael Alcides
2015-2016
TV Mini-Series documentary 5 episodes
Psique
2015
Short
Memorias del desarrollo
2010
Red Cockroaches
2003
El tenedor plástico
2001
Video
Clase z tropical
2000
Short
Bailar sobre agujas
1999
Short
Nice Going
1999
Short
Idea
1998
Video documentary short
Detalles
1998
Short
Válvula de luz
1997
Short
Pirámide
1996
Short
Writer
Title
Year
Status
Character
Corazón Azul
2018
story filming
Nadie
2017
Documentary writer
Rafael Alcides
2015-2016
TV Mini-Series documentary 4 episodes
Memorias del desarrollo
2010
screenplay
Red Cockroaches
2003
writer
El tenedor plástico
2001
Video
Clase z tropical
2000
Short
Bailar sobre agujas
1999
Short uncredited
Nice Going
1999
Short writer
Idea
1998
Video documentary short
Detalles
1998
Short writer
Válvula de luz
1997
Short
Pirámide
1996
Short
Producer
Title
Year
Status
Character
Corazón Azul
2018
producer filming
Nadie
2017
Documentary producer
Rafael Alcides
2015-2016
TV Mini-Series documentary producer - 5 episodes
Psique
2015
Short producer
Red Cockroaches
2003
producer
El tenedor plástico
2001
Video producer
Clase z tropical
2000
Short producer
Válvula de luz
1997
Short producer
Pirámide
1996
Short producer - uncredited
Cinematographer
Title
Year
Status
Character
Corazón Azul
2018
filming
Nadie
2017
Documentary
El lugar preciso
2016
Short
Rafael Alcides
2015
TV Mini-Series documentary
Psique
2015
Short
Memorias del desarrollo
2010
Música Bajo Nueva York
2004
TV Movie documentary
Red Cockroaches
2003
El tenedor plástico
2001
Video
Clase z tropical
2000
Short
Idea
1998
Video documentary short uncredited
Válvula de luz
1997
Short
Pirámide
1996
Short
Editor
Title
Year
Status
Character
Corazón Azul
2018
filming
Nadie
2017
Documentary
El lugar preciso
2016
Short
Rafael Alcides
2015
TV Mini-Series documentary
Psique
2015
Short
Memorias del desarrollo
2010
Música Bajo Nueva York
2004
TV Movie documentary
Red Cockroaches
2003
El tenedor plástico
2001
Video
Clase z tropical
2000
Short
Detalles
1998
Short uncredited
Válvula de luz
1997
Short
Pirámide
1996
Short uncredited
Composer
Title
Year
Status
Character
¿OVNIS en Cuba?
1997
Video documentary
Válvula de luz
1997
Short
Corazón Azul
2018
filming
Rafael Alcides
2015
TV Mini-Series documentary
Psique
2015
Short
Memorias del desarrollo
2010
Red Cockroaches
2003
El tenedor plástico
2001
Video
Bailar sobre agujas
1999
Short
Nice Going
1999
Short
Idea
1998
Video documentary short
Detalles
1998
Short
Sound Department
Title
Year
Status
Character
Memorias del desarrollo
2010
sound editor / sound mixer / sound recordist
Red Cockroaches
2003
sound / sound mixer
El tenedor plástico
2001
Video sound
Bailar sobre agujas
1999
Short sound mixer - uncredited
Actor
Title
Year
Status
Character
Corazón Azul
2018
filming
L
Memorias del desarrollo
2010
Student / Man at party / man at the park
Red Cockroaches
2003
Man at the zoo
Pirámide
1996
Short
El plano
1993
Special Effects
Title
Year
Status
Character
Memorias del desarrollo
2010
special effects
Red Cockroaches
2003
special effects
El tenedor plástico
2001
Video special effects
Clase z tropical
2000
Short special effects
Visual Effects
Title
Year
Status
Character
Corazón Azul
2018
digital compositor filming
Tea on the Axis of Evil
2009
Documentary photo animator
¿OVNIS en Cuba?
1997
Video documentary visual effects
Pirámide
1996
Short visual effects
Camera Department
Title
Year
Status
Character
Diller Scofidio + Renfro: Reimagining Lincoln Center and the High Line
2012
Video documentary additional photography
Jane by Design
2012
TV Series assistant camera - 1 episode
Art, Architecture and Innovation: Celebrating the Guggenheim Museum
2009
Documentary short additional camera
American Jobs
2005
Video documentary cinematographer: additional shooting
Animation Department
Title
Year
Status
Character
Corazón Azul
2018
animator filming
Art Director
Title
Year
Status
Character
Bailar sobre agujas
1999
Short
Set Decorator
Title
Year
Status
Character
Pirámide
1996
Short uncredited
Miscellaneous
Title
Year
Status
Character
Memorias del desarrollo
2010
collage artist
Thanks
Title
Year
Status
Character
Stand By
2007
Short special thanks
Self
Title
Year
Status
Character
The Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil