Luis Gutiérrez Arias makes films that explore notions of homeland and territory through human relationship to landscape, collective memory and myth making. His work has been shown at Sundance, DOK Leipzig, Full Frame, Images, Message to Man, Morelia, AFI Docs and Ambulante, among others. His short documentary, It’s Going to be Beautiful (2018), received an award for best cinematography at the Tacoma Film Festival and was curated by The Atlantic Select series. He was a fellow during the 2019 Doc’s Kingdom seminar and was part of the Berlinale Talents Guadalajara 2015. He is co-founder of Bahia Colectiva, a community of filmmakers that collaborate in process, practice and curation. Works that he has collaborated on as a producer, cinematographer or editor have been selected by Viennale, Rotterdam, Venice Critics’ Week, Curtas Vila Do Conde, Lima Alterna and FICUNAM. His feature directorial debut Todo Lo Sólido has received support from Sundance, UnionDocs and the Allan Sekula Social Documentary Fund. He is a professor in the Filmmaking Program at the Kansas City Art Institute.
Todo Lo Sólido (All That Is Solid)
Todo Lo Sólido (All That Is Solid) tells the story of an island sinking into the Caribbean Sea. As a nameless drifter searches for explanations about the island’s destiny, reality and fantasy merge to reflect on the construction of a nation and the burden of progress. This journey traversing present day Cuba explores major economic development projects, from land reforms to present-day industrial tourism.The drifter’s voice is simultaneously the voice of the filmmaker, blurring the borders between memory and official history.
