Roble de Olor

Rigoberto Lopez

Rigoberto Lopez is a Cuban film director, born in 1947, and is well known for his documentaries on cultural and historical themes such as: “El Mensajero de los Dioses” (“The Messenger of the Gods”),  “Yo Soy, Del Son a la Salsa” 1996 (From Son to Salsa) and “Grenada: the Take off of a Dream”, 1983 during the production of which he was the last filmmaker to interview Maurice Bishop before he was assassinated. In 2004, he directed his first narrative feature film “Roble de Alor” (“Scent of Oak”) based on the story of a slave planter who established a classical string ensemble  on his estate. Lopez was also a major advocate of Caribbean cinema and established the Muestra Itinerante del Cine del Caribe (Traveling Caribbean Film Showcase) in 2006 that screened Caribbean films annually throughout the region. He was its president until his death in 2019. While in his later years he was working on making more feature films such as “Forbidden Flights” (2015) he  will always be remembered for his passionate support of Caribbean films and filmmakers from the wider Caribbean and its diaspora. He will be missed.