Diario de Cuba reports that Cuban writer, screenwriter, and professor, Eliseo Altunaga (1941-2026), passed away in Spain yesterday. The obituary article highlights his career on the island and abroad as a screenwriter for popular Cuban television series and for important film productions in Cuba and other countries. Altunaga’s funeral services will be held on Wednesday, August 5, at the Parcesa La Paz Funeral Home in Alcobendas, Madrid.
The Cuban writer, screenwriter for film, radio, and television, and professor Eliseo Altunaga Barreras died in Spain, where he was hospitalized, at the age of 85, according to his family and colleagues.
Born in Camagüey in 1941, he graduated with a degree in Hispanic Language and Literature from the University of Havana in 1976. From the previous decade, he distinguished himself for his work adapting literary works for radio and as a screenwriter of original programs for that medium.
Among his most outstanding television scripts are those for the telenovela El tiempo joven no muere and the television series Algo más que soñar and Salida 19, as well as the historical production La gran rebelión (Jorge Fuentes, 1982), the first feature film by documentarian Enrique Colina; Entre ciclones (2003, co-written with Antonio José Ponte), the film Mata que Dios perdona (Ismael Perdomo, 2005), and Santa y Andrés (Carlos Lechuga, 2016), among others.
Altunaga also maintained a distinguished body of work as a writer of short stories and novels, in which he explored Cuban identity through the lens of race and ethnicity. Among his books are Todo mezclado (1984), Canto de gemido (Editorial Letras Cubanas, 1988/Editorial Mono Azul, España, 2005), A medianoche llegan los muertos (Editorial Letras Cubanas, 1997), En la prisión de los sueños (Ediciones Unión, 2003) and Las negras brujas no vuelan (Ediciones Unión, 2007).
A third facet of his work is his teaching. He was a tenured professor at the Higher Institute of Art of Cuba and in recent decades served as head of the Advanced Studies Department at the International Film and Television School (EICTV) in San Antonio de los Baños, where he also served as dean and professor of screenwriting.
Numerous filmmakers from around the world participated in his workshops, and he also taught in Spain and several Latin American countries.
Altunaga had a special connection with Chilean cinema. His name appears as co-writer and script consultant for several feature films by Pablo Larraín (Post mortem; Tony Manero; No; El Conde) and Andrés Wood (Machuca; Violeta se fue a los cielos), among other filmmakers.
Translated by Ivette Romero. Read the original article (in Spanish) at https://diariodecuba.com/cultura/1785864330_68327.html
Also see https://www.14ymedio.com/cuba/muere-eliseo-altunaga-guionista-maestro_1_1129472.html and https://www.prensa-latina.cu/2026/08/04/lamentan-en-cuba-muerte-de-guionista-y-realizador-eliseo-altunaga/