Raydel Araoz

Film maker, artist, engineer, writer, theologist. Raydel Araoz is an artist with can be still defined as “young” (he belongs to the generation of the 30’s) with a long and extravagant curriculum and an incredible and totally personal sensibility towards creation.

After his studies in Engineering, Raydel decided to study visual arts at the ISA and cinema at the school of San Antonio de Los Baños: the two more prestigious schools of the island.

At the same time, he was studying and practicing writing (as a novelist, poet, essayist and movie writer).

Since the beginning of the 2000’s he has published 3 books (novels and poetries) and realized several movies, which he signed as writer and director and winning several prizes.

Raydel Araoz works as a totally independent film maker, finding the funds for his works, supported by the collaboration of actors, artists, editors nd managing by himself all the steps of the production. A radical assumption in a country where everything is owned by the State and where cinema industry is managed by relevant public Instituts (such as the ICAIC), which also control all the production processes.

To be an independent film maker means for Raydel Araoz to be aware of the history of the global and local cinema, to have clear references in terms of aesthetics of moving images and to be able to deconstruct both history and aesthetical references in order to construct a personal audiovisual language. Araoz movies and short videos play in between documentary and narration, animation and classical linear narrations, to give space to a fantastic universe where stories, social events and poetic narrations cohabit with poetry, animation and surrealistic visual approach.

Raydel participated to the production workshop with Omni Zonafranca and produced his short video Canto al Santisimo as final result of the workshop.