Ivonne Belen
Encyclopedia
Ivonne Belén is a Puerto Rican
Puerto Rican people
A Puerto Rican is a person who was born in Puerto Rico.Puerto Ricans born and raised in the continental United States are also sometimes referred to as Puerto Ricans, although they were not born in Puerto Rico...
documentary movie director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
and producer
Film producer
A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...
.
Early years
Belén was born and raised in San JuanSan Juan, Puerto Rico
San Juan , officially Municipio de la Ciudad Capital San Juan Bautista , is the capital and most populous municipality in Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 395,326 making it the 46th-largest city under the jurisdiction of...
, the Capital of Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
, where she received her primary and secondary education. As a child Belén enjoyed setting up improvised plays for her family. Her first experiences with the artistic world was when she participated in her school plays. She was also a talented artist who drew and created cartoon
Cartoon
A cartoon is a form of two-dimensional illustrated visual art. While the specific definition has changed over time, modern usage refers to a typically non-realistic or semi-realistic drawing or painting intended for satire, caricature, or humor, or to the artistic style of such works...
characters.
After graduating from high school, Belén enrolled and attended the University of Puerto Rico
University of Puerto Rico
The University of Puerto Rico is the state university system of Puerto Rico. The system consists of 11 campuses and has approximately 64,511 students and 5,300 faculty members...
where she studied Art and Communications. She worked in an animated cartoon workshop at the same time that she attended the university. In the 1980s, Belén became a professional copywriter and producer.
Copywriter and producer
In 1987, she decided to try her own luck as an independent freelancer. In the 1988 films "The Bell" and "San Juan Story", Belén worked as Production Designer. After this, she undertook the art design for the films:- "La Guagua Aérea" (The Air Bus) (1992),
- "La Recién Nacida Sangre" (The Recently Born Blood) (1992) and
- "Shortcut to Paradise" (1993).
Documentary films
Belén's first experience of doing a documentary film was in 1992 when she was the Co-Producer and Art Director of Rafael Hernández, Jibarito del Mundo. She then worked on two other documentaries, Adome, la presencia Africana en Puerto Rico (Adome, the African presence in Puerto Rico) (1992) and Reseña de una Vida Util (1995). The experience gained from these documentaries inspired her to form her own film company called "The Paradiso Film Company", in which she is the executive producer.Belén always loved to read, especially poetry; amongst her favorite poets are Mercedes Negron Muñoz
Mercedes Negrón Muñoz
Mercedes Negrón Muñoz a.k.a. "Clara Lair" , was an influential poet whose work dealt with the everyday struggles of the common Puerto Rican.-Early years:...
(Clara Lair) and Julia de Burgos
Julia de Burgos
Julia Constancia Burgos García is considered by many as the greatest poet to have been born in Puerto Rico, and along with Gabriela Mistral, is considered as one of the greatest female poets of Latin America...
. She decided to make a documentary about the life of Clara Lair and dedicated many years of work and research to this project. Finally in 1996, she produced, directed and wrote the screenplay for the documentary which she titled A Passion named Clara Lair.
Amongst the many awards which this film won were:
- Special mention in the XVII Havana Latin-American Film Festival (1996) in CubaCubaThe Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
- Special mention in the IX San Juan Cinemafest (1997) in Puerto Rico,
- "The Mesquite Award" (1997) in San Antonio, TexasSan Antonio, TexasSan Antonio is the seventh-largest city in the United States of America and the second-largest city within the state of Texas, with a population of 1.33 million. Located in the American Southwest and the south–central part of Texas, the city serves as the seat of Bexar County. In 2011,...
and - "Best Video Documentary" at the Valdivia International Film & Video Festival (1998) celebrated in ChileChileChile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
.
The success obtained in this film inspired her to pursue her second project - a documentary about the life and work of the late Puerto Rican poet Julia de Burgos
Julia de Burgos
Julia Constancia Burgos García is considered by many as the greatest poet to have been born in Puerto Rico, and along with Gabriela Mistral, is considered as one of the greatest female poets of Latin America...
. She based her film on the letters that Burgos sent to her sister Consuelo from New York City and Cuba between the years of 1940 to 1953. Finally, with the cooperation of Puerto Rican playwright Luis Rafael Sánchez
Luis Rafael Sanchez
Dr. Luis Rafael Sánchez a.k.a. "Wico" is a Puerto Rican playwright. Possibly his best known play is La Pasión según Antigona Pérez , a tragedy based on the life of Olga Viscal Garriga-Early years:...
, she produced and directed the film which she titled "Julia, todo en mi..." (Julia, all in me...) in (2002). Among the actors who participated in the movie are Oscar
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
winner Benicio del Toro
Benicio del Toro
Benicio Monserrate Rafael del Toro Sánchez is a Puerto Rican and Spanish actor and film producer. He won an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and a BAFTA Award for his role as Javier Rodríguez in Traffic . He is also known for his roles as Fred Fenster in The Usual...
, Nydia Caro
Nydia Caro
Nydia Caro is an American & Puerto Rican actress and singer. Born in New York City to parents from Rincón, Puerto Rico, she initiated her career in the arts at a very young age while living in New York...
, Jacobo Morales
Jacobo Morales
Jacobo Morales is an auteur, whom many consider to be the most influential film director in Puerto Rico's history.-Life and career:...
and singer Danny Rivera
Danny Rivera
Danny Rivera is a Puerto Rican singer and songwriter who was born in San Juan whose career spans nearly 50 years. He is well-known in Puerto Rico for his political activism.-Musical career:...
.
Belén is also a judge in the Syracuse International Film & Video Festival in New York. This is an international organization that promotes creative and scholarly work in the verbal and visual arts.