Cuban filmmaker Diana Montero has died today in Miami at the age of 34 of cancer. She attended Cuba’s International School of Film and Television of San Antonio de los Baños (EICTV) between 2011 and 2014, where she studied documentary filmmaking. Her documentary work, largely focused in the daily lives of people in rural areas of the Caribbean island, was screened in numerous international film festivals.
Born in 1986, Montero received a bachelor degree in Art History of Art from the University of Havana, in addition to her film studies. She was currently enrolled in the Film TV and Digital Production Program at Miami Dade College. She directed the documentary shorts He Is you / Él eres tú (2012), Just Like Cats (2013), ABC’s / Abecé (2014), and Miracle Worker / Milagrosa (2014).
ABCs tells the story of a 12-year-old girl living in the Sierra Maestra who gives birth to a child. Forced to abandon school, and verbally abused by her baby’s father, she struggles with her childish urges to play, the demands of motherhood and the obligations of family life.
The short film won several awards including the UNICEF Award at the Bilbao Film Festival, the Best Documentary Film Award at VGIK International Student Festival in Moscow, the Jury Special Mention at the Etiuda & Anima International Film Festival in Krakow, the Best Documentary Short Award at the Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival. In recent years, she had been working on her debut feature film titled Nido / Nest.
Watch the short film ABC’s:
