Clemente de la Cerda(1934-1984)
- Director
- Producer
- Production Manager
An outstanding Venezuelan film director, de la Cerda's films were
characterized for their denunciation of social conditions of the
underprivileged in Venezuelan society. As a child, his family moved to
Caracas, where he soon enrolled in the School of Plastic Arts. Between
1962 and 1963 he frequented the Venezuelan Institute of Movie Studies,
directed at the time by the actor Luis Salazar. Later, he studied
theater with Humberto Orsini in the Central University of Venezuela for
8 months. At the same time, he began to work at Televisa (later Channel
4) as a camera assistant, advancing in responsibilities until getting
to direct musical programs and soap operas, among those shows "La
telenovela criolla" ("The Creole Soap Opera"), which starred Maria
Escalona and Américo Montero. As a result of the arrival of videotape
recording, he decided to leave television for film, working in news and
commercials, first as a cameraman and soon as a director.
In 1964 he began his career as a film director, producing a series of narrative films that, over the course of 10 to 20 years, made him the most active film director of that time in Venezuela. Among his more important films are: Isla de Sal [Island of Salt] and El Rostro [The Hidden Face] (1964), Sin fin [Endless] (1971), Cahuramanacas (short film, 1971), Soy un delincuente [I Am a Delinquent] (1976), Reincidente {a sequel to I Am a Delinquent} and Companer de viaje [Fellow Traveller] (1977), El crimen del penalista [The Crime of the Criminal Attorney] (1979), Los criminales [The Criminals] (1982), Reten de Catia and Agua que no haz de beber [Water Not to Drink] (1984). His film "I Am a Delinquent" was not only a box office success, but marked the beginning of a new wave in Venezuelan cinema. In effect, its point of view, denouncing the material and psychological conditions of Venezuelan society, cemented his work as a prominent part of the national cinema. In 1985, one year after his death, the National Council published a book titled "Clemente de la Cerda": an exhaustive study of the cinematic work of de la Cerda, with text, filmography, and illustrations.
In 1964 he began his career as a film director, producing a series of narrative films that, over the course of 10 to 20 years, made him the most active film director of that time in Venezuela. Among his more important films are: Isla de Sal [Island of Salt] and El Rostro [The Hidden Face] (1964), Sin fin [Endless] (1971), Cahuramanacas (short film, 1971), Soy un delincuente [I Am a Delinquent] (1976), Reincidente {a sequel to I Am a Delinquent} and Companer de viaje [Fellow Traveller] (1977), El crimen del penalista [The Crime of the Criminal Attorney] (1979), Los criminales [The Criminals] (1982), Reten de Catia and Agua que no haz de beber [Water Not to Drink] (1984). His film "I Am a Delinquent" was not only a box office success, but marked the beginning of a new wave in Venezuelan cinema. In effect, its point of view, denouncing the material and psychological conditions of Venezuelan society, cemented his work as a prominent part of the national cinema. In 1985, one year after his death, the National Council published a book titled "Clemente de la Cerda": an exhaustive study of the cinematic work of de la Cerda, with text, filmography, and illustrations.
