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The animated feature film "Elpidio Valdés" (1979), regarded as the first of its kind in the history of Cuban cinema, will be digitized and restored in Colombia along with four short films from the same series, as announced ICAIC President Alexis Triana on Wednesday, July 2nd, during the plenary session of the II International Congress on the Protection of Cultural Heritage.
"Today we announce the beginning of the digitization and restoration of the first animated feature film of Cuban Cinema, which Juan Padrón made in 1979 under the title 'Elpidio Valdés', along with four other short films," Triana wrote on social media to share the news.
The film material was physically delivered in Bogotá to Ricardo Cuesta Garnica, deputy director of the Colombian Film Heritage Foundation, by actress Mirta Ibarra —National Film Award 2025— and by Arlety Veunes, head of the Documentaries Department at ICAIC.
Both were in transit to the 12th International Film Festival in the Mountains, held in Salento, Quindío, from July 1 to 5, 2026, which featured Cuba as the guest of honor under the theme "Latin American Peasant Re-existences."
In addition to the 70-minute feature film, the Colombian Film Heritage Foundation will restore four short films from the saga: "Elpidio Valdés fuerza la trocha," "Elpidio Valdés encuentra a Palmiche," "Elpidio Valdés en campaña de verano," and "Elpidio Valdés contra la cañonera."
The project has the financial backing of the solidarity movement in the United Kingdom. Triana specifically thanked Rob Miller and the Screencuba.uk Festival, which "has supported the restoration of Juan Padrón's work for three years with their contributions."
, born in Matanzas in 1947 and passed away in Havana on March 24, 2020, is regarded as the father of Cuban cinematic animation and was the recipient of the National Film Award in 2008. He created the mambí colonel in 1970 for the magazine Pionero; the character made his cinematic debut in 1974 with a short film and reached its peak with the 1979 feature film, a landmark in Latin American animation. After his death, the Panamanian singer-songwriter Rubén Blades described him as a “giant of Latin American animation”.
The Colombian Film Heritage Foundation is not unfamiliar with Padrón's work: it has previously worked on the restoration of other short films in the saga and plans to also tackle "Vampires in Havana" (1985), the animated film that achieved the greatest commercial success for the filmmaker from Matanzas. According to Jorge Mario Vera, the technical deputy director of the Colombian institution, "restoring these works provides the opportunity to journey through the memory of the sociopolitical moments of various countries throughout history."
The announcement comes at a time of deep crisis for the ICAIC. In November 2023, more than a hundred Cuban filmmakers rejected the appointment of Alexis Triana as president of the institution, arguing that the organization had been "practically destroyed." Despite this context, the ICAIC has promoted initiatives to preserve film heritage, including the recognition of Luciano Castillo, director of the Cinemateca de Cuba, with the National Film Award 2026.
The interest in the character has not waned among the public. In May 2026, an animation of Elpidio Valdés dancing "reparto" went viral on TikTok, accumulating over 246,000 views, which demonstrates the ongoing relevance of the animated mambí among new generations of Cubans both on and off the island.
Once the restoration is complete, the feature film and the four short films will be digitally preserved for future generations, in an effort that unites Colombia, the United Kingdom, and what remains of the Cuban film industry around one of the nation's most cherished cultural icons.
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