First Contact (1983 film)
"First Contact" is the first documentary in what later became known as "The Highland Trilogy". The other two films are "Joe Leahy's Neighbours" (1989) and "Black Harvest" (1992). These three films, between them, have won some thirty major awards, included each film winning both the Grand Prix at the Festival Cinéma du Réel in Paris and AFI Award for Best Documentary.
Tomás Gutiérrez Alea
Shortly after the success of the Cuban Revolution led by Fidel Castro in 1959, Gutiérrez, Espinosa, and several other young filmmakers founded the Instituto Cubano del Arte e Industria Cinematográficos (ICAIC). As ardent supporters of the Revolution, ICAIC was a filmmaker's collective which believed film to be the most important modern art form and the best medium to distribute revolutionary thought to the masses. Gutiérrez's "Esta Tierra Nuestra" ("This Land Of Ours"), was the first documentary made after the revolutionary victory. ICAIC focused mostly on documentaries and newsreels in its formative years, but eventually expanded into production of feature films, including Gutiérrez's early "Historias de la Revolución" ("Stories Of The Revolution") (1960), ICAIC's first fiction film, and "Doce sillas" ("The Twelve Chairs"), (1962). "Stories of the Revolution" was entered into the 2nd Moscow International Film Festival and "The Twelve Chairs" was entered into the 3rd Moscow International Film Festival.