Edmundo Aray
Directing
Biography
Poet, critic, filmmaker and cultural promoter. He belonged to the literary groups Sardio (1956-1962) and Techo de la Ballena (1963-1968). Creator of the magazine Rocinante (1969-1978). Founder in 1974 of the Committee of Filmmakers of Latin America. He was also a founding member of the Foundation of New Latin American Cinema and its Superior and Directive councils. He served as general director of the International School of Film and Television of San Antonio de los Baños, Cuba (2000-2002). He obtained recognition as a storyteller in the contests of El Universal (1957) and the Central University of Venezuela (1958). His most notable collections of poetry include: Los invitados en el tiempo (The Guests in Time) (1958), Nadie quieres descansar (Nobody Wants to Rest) (1961), Cambio de soles (Change of Suns) (1968), Cantata del monte sagrado (Sacred Mountain Cantata) (1983) and Laberinto de amor (Poetic Anthology 1991-2006). As a filmmaker, he won the Best Film and Best Screenplay award from the Libertador Municipal Council (1994) and the National Prize (1991).
Known For
Documentary that celebrates 100 years of cinema in Latin America and talks about the origins and the development of cinema in this subcontinent. Its structure is based in 12 short films directed by various Latin American directors. These are: 1) "Los inicios", Iván Trujillo 2) "Cuando comenzamos a hablar", María Novaro 3) "Jugando en serio", Jacobo Morales 4) "De cuerpo presente [Las espirales perpetuas del placer y el poder] Cine Mexicano [1931- 1997]", Marcela Fernández Violante 5) "Cuando quisimos ser adultos", Edmundo Aray and David Rodríguez 6) "Cinema Novo", Orlando Senna 7) "Memorias de una isla, Juan Carlos Tabío 8) "Un grito, 24 cuadros por segundo", Julio García-Espinosa 9) "El día de la independencia", Federico García 10) "¿Sólo las formas permanecen?", Fernando Birri and Pablo Rodríguez Gauregui 11) "Todo final es un principio", Andrés Marriquín.
Entangling Shadows
Alfredo Alvarado is a famous dancer and criminal from Venezuela. His horrifying adventures are narrated through a television program. It exposes the contradictions of that context. It is based on the book Los cuentos de Alfredo Alvarado “El Rey del Joropo", by Edmundo Aray.
(Alias) El Rey del Joropo
Animation musical about Simón Bolívar.
Un Bolívar sabanero
Animation film about José Martí.
José Martí, ese soy yo
Animation musical.
Por aquí pasó, compadre
Pozo muerto (Dead well), a 1967 documentary film by Carlos Rebolledo, Antonio de la Rosa, and Edmundo Aray, denounces the effects of an oil spill on the fishing communities along Lake Maracaibo in western Venezuela.
Dead well
A motion picture of the economic and social situation in current Venezuela, through three characters affected one way or another by dependency and neocolonialism.
Venezuela tres tiempos (Fragmentos del anti-desarrollo)
Animation musical about Simón Bolívar.
Este niño Don Simón
In Simón Bolívar, ese soy yo, Venezuelan filmmaker Edmundo Aray begins his cinematic cycle devoted to Latin America’s independence heroes with a poetic and symbolic animated film that reimagines the life and myth of Simón Bolívar.
Simón Bolívar, ese soy yo
Documentary about the nazi massacre of Lidice, in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic.
Lídice
Animation film about Venezuelan philosopher Simón Rodríguez.
Simón Rodríguez, ese soy yo
Video-essay about the pianist Carlos César Rodríguez.
Carlos César Rodríguez
Video-essay about poet Ana Enriqueta Terán.
Ana Enriqueta Terán
Documentary.