Miguel Coyula Aquino, born in Havana in 1977, is an independent director who handles every aspect of his films, from screenplays to editing. His cinema invites reflection through fragmented images and innovative visual styles, even as he faces professional marginalization in Cuba. Despite this, he wins international awards and travels with his partner, actress Lynn Cruz.
Miguel Coyula Aquino, born in Havana in 1977, stands out as an independent director in Cuban cinema. He personally manages the screenplays, cinematography, editing, and music of his works, stressing that the text must be visual to define rhythm and tone. He uses storyboards to plan precise shots. As Coyula puts it, growing up in Cuba offers unique training: “Growing up in Cuba is incredible training for functioning anywhere in the world, because it teaches you to do a lot with nothing.”
His films delve into inconsistencies and paradoxes in Cuban contexts, blending documentary and fictional elements. A key work is Memorias del desarrollo (2010), based on a novel by Edmundo Desnoes, which earned about twenty awards in Cuba and abroad. The film tackles existential unease with a fragmented, frenetic style, echoing Memorias del subdesarrollo (1968) by Tomás Gutiérrez Alea, also adapted from Desnoes. Other productions include Nadie (2017), a dialogue with poet Rafael Alcides; Corazón azul (2021); and Crónicas del absurdo (2024).
Despite state indifference and professional marginalization in Cuba, Coyula screens his films locally and joins international events. He lives under watchful eyes but retains freedom to travel and accept accolades. Beyond cinema, he has published novels such as Mar Rojo, Mal Azul (2013) and La isla vertical (2022), plus the nonfiction book Matar el realismo (2024), featuring photos, texts, and interviews.
Article author Franco Avicolli respects Coyula's path, though he disagrees with the director's broad criticism of Fidel Castro. He sees in Coyula's rejection of regime propaganda the seed of the revolutionary “new man,” opposing exclusionary industrial development models.
