Nicolás Guillén Landrián

Nicolás Guillén Landrián (1938 in Camagüey, Cuba - July 23, 2003 in Miami, Florida) was a Cuban experimental filmmaker and painter. Guillén was an accomplished filmmaker. He made a total of 18 documentaries (six are now lost), although they were heavily censored and prevented from being part of the Cuban film industry. In 1964, he was given a special award at the Krakow Film Festival for his film En un barrio viejo. In 1968, his documentary Coffea Arabiga featured the Beatles' song "The Fool on the Hill" as Fidel Castro appeared on screen. That same year, Guillén was accused of plotting to assassinate Castro. The Cuban government interrogated him for six months in Villa Marista. From 1970 to 1989, he was repeatedly jailed and institutionalized. He received at least eight treatments of electroconvulsive therapy, never under sedation. As painter, he taught René Portocarrero and Victor Miquel Moreno Piñeiro in painting. In 1989, he was able to leave Cuba and lived the rest of his life in Miami, Florida. He died of cancer at Mercy Hospital in Miami. After his death, his widow had his body flown from Miami and entombed in Colon Cemetery, Havana in Cuba. His uncle was Afro-Cuban poet Nicolás Guillén. Filmmakers Victor R. Jiménez Sosa, and Jorge Egusquiza produced a biogra... ()