Cuba's greatest and best-known director, Tomas Gutierrez Alea fell in love with cinema at an early age, began as a documentarian much influenced by Italian neo-realism, and fully came into his own as an artist during Fidel Castro's regime. Over the years, he has evinced a fondness for both historical and contemporary fables, invariably politically pointed and satirical, their flights into absurdity showing the influence of Luis Bunuel. An ardent supporter of the revolution which dispatched the despotic Fulgencio Batista and brought Castro to power, Alea has painted a more complex portrait of
Made first amateur short films, "Un fakir" and "La caperucita roja/Little Red Riding Hood", with an 8 mm camera
1950
Collaborated with Nestor Almendros, a fellow student at the University of Havana, on another 8 mm short film, "Una confusion cotidiana/A Common Confusion"
1953
Made first non-amateur short: "El sueno de Juan Bassain/The Dream of Juan Bassin"
1956
Made first documentary short, "El Megano/The Charcoal Worker", co-directed with Julio Garcia Espinosa; screened only once before Batista's police force confiscated the print
1956
Wrote regularly for the weekly film news magazine, CINEREVISTA
