Miguel Coyula

Miguel Coyula is a Cuban filmmaker, writer, cinematographer, editor, and producer. At age 17, he made his first short with a VHS camcorder, which led to his admittance to EICTV, the Cuban International Film and Television School. 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). In 2000, Coyula was offered a scholarship to the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute, where he made his first feature, Red Cockroaches (2003), for less than $2000 over a two-year period. Variety described the film 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 a Guggenheim Fellowship for developing his second feature, Memories of Overdevelopment, a follow-up to the Cuban classic Memorias del Subdesarrollo (1968), also based on the novel by Cuban writer Edmundo Desnoes. After its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, the film went on to gather several awards and honors. The International Film Guide described it as one of the best films ever produced in Cuba. His 2017 documentary feature Nadie (Nobody) won the Best Documentary award at the Global Film Festival in Santo Domingo. Corazón Azul (2021) a science-fiction drama shot over 10 years received awards at the Guadalajara and Minsk International Film Festivals. His visionary work continues to be recognized as his most recent film, the documentary Chronicles of the Absurd (2024) has been highly lauded at the IDFA with the Envision Competition award for Best Film, and the Buenos Aires International Festival of Independent Cinema's Special Jury Prize in Vanguard and Gender competition. In addition to his film work, Coyula has published two novels: Mar Rojo, Mal Azul (La Pereza Ediciones, 2013) and La Isla Vertical (Ediciones Deslinde, 2022) and the essay book Matar el Realismo (Hurón Azul Ediciones, 2024).