• Submitted by: Luis Manuel Mazorra
• Culture and Traditions
• 03 / 02 / 2012

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This Thursday was given the National Film Award 2012 to the director and essayist José Massip in honor of its 50 years of dedication to the cinematic arts.

The jury was headed by actress Eslinda Nunez, Gerardo Chijona filmmaker and photographer Raul Perez Ureta, announced sources told Prensa Latina the Cuban Institute of Cinematographic Art and Industry (ICAIC).

Born in Havana in 1926, Massip studied philosophy and literature at the University of Havana and of sociology at Harvard University, USA.

Founder of ICAIC and cultural society Our time, worked closely with Julio Garcia Espinosa, Alfredo Guevara and Tomas Gutierrez Alea in the filming of the documentary The Mégano (1955), considered revolutionary Cuban cinema history.

Described by critics as the filmmaker who has tried over the life of José Martí in films such as pages from the diary of José Martí (1971) and times of young Marti (1960), among his best known works include the documentary The Story of a ballet (Yoruba Suite) and Madina Boe (1968).

First awarded in 2003 to honor the work of life, the National Film Award has gone before in people like Alfredo Guevara, Julio Garcia Espinosa, Humberto Solas, Enrique Pineda Barnet, Fernando Perez, Daisy Granados and Leo Brouwer.