Cuban screenwriter, novelist, essayist and screenwriting teacher Eliseo Altunaga died today in Spain, where he had been hospitalized. He was 85. News of his death prompted tributes from filmmakers, former students and cultural institutions across Cuba and Latin America, where he was widely regarded as one of the region's foremost mentors to generations of screenwriters and filmmakers.
Born in Camagüey, Cuba, on March 21, 1941, Altunaga earned a degree in Hispanic Language and Literature from the University of Havana before embarking on a career that spanned literature, film, television and teaching. Alongside a prolific output of novels, essays and short stories, he became one of Cuba's leading screenwriters and script consultants.
Internationally, Altunaga is best known as the co-screenwriter of Andrés Wood's Violeta Went to Heaven / Violeta se fue a los cielos (2011), winner of the World Cinema Dramatic Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival. As a script consultant, he also collaborated on several acclaimed Chilean films, including Wood's Machuca (2004), Pablo Larraín's Academy Award-nominated No (2012) and El Conde (2023), and Sebastián Lelio's Academy Award-winning A Fantastic Woman / Una mujer fantástica (2017).
In Cuba, Altunaga also wrote for numerous feature films, documentaries, television series and radio productions over the course of five decades, becoming one of the country's most respected screenwriters and script consultants.
Beyond his own filmography, Altunaga left an indelible mark as a teacher. For many years he served as dean of the Screenwriting Department at Cuba's International School of Film and Television (EICTV) in San Antonio de los Baños and also taught at Havana's Higher Institute of Art (ISA). Through his classes, script consultations, workshops and master classes across Ibero-America, he mentored generations of filmmakers, earning a reputation as one of the Spanish-speaking world's most influential screenwriting educators.
Altunaga remained active until the end of his life, participating in screenplay development initiatives and teaching internationally. Known for his rigor, generosity and deep commitment to storytelling, he leaves behind an extensive body of literary and audiovisual work, as well as an enduring legacy through the countless writers and filmmakers whose careers he helped shape.
