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The television director Armando Arencibia Valhuerdi passed away this Tuesday, according to a note published by the ICRT, which describes him as the creator of a “sustained and diverse” body of work within Cuban audiovisual content, marked by artistic sensitivity, professional rigor, and a constant vocation to tell stories from the screen.
Born in Matanzas, Arencibia faced personal challenges from a young age: at the age of 12, he was diagnosed with a congenital condition—he was born with only one kidney—which imposed physical limitations on him, but did not hinder his creative drive.
The ICRT note also highlights his family background: he was the son of a mother who raised five boys alone after the early death of their father, and who the filmmaker recognized as an essential source of strength and character.
His path to cinema and television was not linear. A graduate in Philology, he got involved in the industry through amateur work and an internship at the ICAIC.
The turning point, according to the text, came when he joined the Film Studies of the FAR, an experience that led him to become one of the seven Cubans selected in 1978 to be part of the first cohort of the International School of Film and Television of San Antonio de los Baños (EICTV).
Since then, he added to his training as a philologist by becoming a director of audiovisual media.
After graduating from the EICTV, he continued at the Fílmica de las FAR, where he primarily made documentaries. Over time, his interest in exploring fiction led him to the ICRT.
In the ICRT, he developed an essential part of his career. He started as an assistant director on the teleplay Falsa Moneda and then directed titles such as La mujer que me tocó, Entre la espada y la pared, No parqueo, and the tale El almacén de los mundos, starring Aramís Delgado, according to the report.
The text emphasizes that a humorous thread can be seen throughout much of his work, which allowed him to work repeatedly with actors such as Rigoberto Ferrera, Otto Ortiz, and Sheila Roche, while still acknowledging —he points out— the creative contributions of significant interpreters in the Cuban acting scene.
He is also remembered for television programs such as Un, dos (1989), Desde ahora (1990), A contratiempo (1998), the comedic Sala O (2014), and more recently, Te invito al cine, a segment on the Educational Channel aired on Friday nights, dedicated to the dissemination and analysis of the seventh art.
As a spectator and creator, Arencibia was —according to the article— a critical observer of Cuban audiovisual works: he advocated for generational renewal and appreciated the democratization that the digital age brought, highlighting works and creators who, in his view, marked a turning point in national filmmaking since the first decade of the 21st century.
With his passing, the text concludes, Cuban television loses a director shaped by perseverance, lifelong learning, and a passion for the craft.
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