Thaelman Urgelles
Directing
Biography
Thaelman Urgelles is a Venezuelan filmmaker. Born in Barquisimeto, he began studying psychology, art, and social communication in 1965. He then worked as a journalist covering sports and current affairs. Beginning in 1973, he became involved in a theater project that eventually led him to cinema—starting with small productions in Super 8 and 16 mm, as well as educational and political documentaries and narrative short films. His first feature film was part of the prolific cinematic movement that made Venezuela the third-largest producer of feature films in Latin America at the time. Co-directed with Carlos Rebolledo in 1977, Alias (El rey del Joropo) was based on Edmundo Aray's Los cuentos de Alfredo Alvarado. The film explores the life of a famous Venezuelan dancer and criminal, told through the format of a television program that recounts his gruesome adventures while also revealing the contradictions of the television medium itself. Urgelles went on to become one of Venezuela's most successful and acclaimed directors. He produced and directed La venganza o ¡Qué bellas son las flores! (1978), a satire of the deep social inequalities in Venezuelan society. He also directed La boda (The Wedding), considered by many to be one of the greatest Venezuelan films of all time. The film revolves around a wedding in which the guests form a microcosmic representation of the nation—its past, present, and future—bringing together different social classes and tracing thirty years of Venezuelan history, including the country’s transition from dictatorship to democracy between 1950 and 1980. His subsequent productions, El atentado (1984) and La generación Halley (1986), which he wrote and directed, were films aimed at reaching a larger audience. During this period, he also produced Casa tomada (1985) and Pacto de sangre (1988), both directed by his wife Malena Roncayolo. Between 1987 and 1990, he produced several documentaries and directed two television miniseries. Urgelles was a key figure in the institutionalization of Venezuelan cinema beginning in 1976. He served as president of the National Association of Film Authors (Asociación Nacional de Autores Cinematográficos, ANAC), among other roles. In 2000, he adapted Edilio Peña’s 1975 play Los pájaros se van con la muerte (The Birds Leave with Death) for the big screen.
Known For
In the small town of San Jorge, a 12- year-old girl watches in horror as her father, a local telegraph operator is thrown in prison by the local military dictatorship. Meanwhile, her mother, Florencia, must make tough moral decisions in order for them to survive under the political oppression. Even Carnival, with all its colorfulness and celebration, cant disguise the mounting tension between the villagers and government making the girls coming of age all the more difficult when the two collide. This movie combines attractive visual scenes with a highly sensual atmosphere as Florencia fights and uses all her resources and beauty to survive and find revenge.
Hounded on a Carnival Monday
Ricardo Azolar is looking for the right words, the exact phrases that will give him literary glory. The days are sterile and lacking in those brilliant ideas that should allow him to express through narrative, the fertile flow arising from the imagination. Until he meets Lisbeth, venus and intoxicating muse who nevertheless compels him to write irrelevant and devoid of any imagination literary texts.
Los Platos del Diablo
Trino, Nerio, and Alfonso are poor chamber musicians trying to survive by playing wherever they can. During a general's funeral, the musicians try to play funeral music, but the screams of one of them, who thinks he's seen the deceased's hand move, cause such a commotion that the participants run away in terror.
Los muertos sí salen
The obsession of The Mother for The Negro causes her sick relationship with The Daughter. Mother and daughter perform a daily routine of rites to conjure The Negro's soul. It pushes them into the dolorous tragedy which will consume them.
Los pájaros se van con la muerte
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
A single mother and her young son must face the social and economic crisis of their country while contemplating the possibility of leaving in search of a better life
One Way
Dr. Rodolfo Arias, a controversial and corrupt lawyer, is the victim of an attack and he points to his two enemies Miguel Guevara and Javier Roldán as the ones responsible. Faced with this situation, Guevara proposes to Roldán a plan to assassinate the lawyer. Fucho, a young criminal whose brother had been a victim of Arias' corruption, together with two other thugs, would be responsible for perpetrating the murder.
El atentado
Lily tells the story of two prostitutes who live on the side of a road, running a humble house that is frequented by truck drivers and people from neighboring towns.
Lily
A politically charged film, where a series of archetypal characters are presented.
The Wedding
Jimmy Valderrama, an unemployed soap opera actor with a fear of flying, agrees to travel abroad for an audition that could save his career. During a chaotic flight, he meets Andrea, a flight attendant he falls in love with, but to win her over he must overcome his inability to make his own decisions.
Amor en el aire
The story tells the emotional conflicts of a group of young friends, who represent a generation that was characterized by family problems and live music. His great dream was to attend a concert by singer Melissa, while their private dramas were changing their lives.
La generación Halley
Aquiles, an introverted museum curator is abandoned by Veronica, the love of his life. That same day, Víctor, an old and partying friend, whom his wife threw out of the house, arrives seeking refuge, but wants to turn this temporary shelter into his permanent home. Aquiles realizes that living with his friend is a nightmare and plans for Víctor to reconcile with his ex-partner Alicia so he can leave. Aquiles discovers that she is a lovely and wonderful woman, he does not fully understand how Alicia fell in love with a man like Víctor, and although she has a little remorse, she moves forward with the cupid plan. But Aquiles playing as cupid has a very bad aim and in the end, the arrow will point at him.
Un Cupido sin Puntería
CHUO (23) is a young Down syndrome, that wants to be treated as an adult man; which creates a constant confrontation with his father JOSÉ (45), a frustrated percussionist, refugee in the drink, not knowing how to handle the demand for love of his special child. While CHUO wins performing spaces so that his father loves him, José increasingly rejected him. However, CHUO not cease in its efforts and is in the music, the way to win the love of his father.
The Special
In the southeast region of Venezuela, officially known as the Orinoco Mining Arc, an unprecedented ecocide is taking place, where a complex criminal network with transnational characteristics is being articulated. Its consequences are massively damaging the environment and the human rights of dozens of indigenous communities, leading to a historical environmental catastrophe hidden in the lungs of the planet.
Bleeding Gold
A terrible secret is hidden between the walls of an old house, the past returns and now, for Irene and Alberto, the moment of their condemnation and destruction has arrived.