Considered one of the principal directors in the history of Brazilian cinema, Nelson Pereira dos Santos (1928-2018) was one of the founders of Cinema Novo, a movement that distinguished the cinema of the South American giant—a country that will be the focus of the next edition of the International Festival of New Latin American Cinema, to be held in Havana from December 3 to 13.

A recipient of the Coral de Honor at the festival's thirtieth edition, Pereira dos Santos contributed to showing the stories of cinema in his nation and shaping an image of the cultural, ethnic, and social diversity that reflects that territory.

In a text published in the Festival Diary on the occasion of the presentation of the aforementioned award, critic Frank Padrón notes that the director is recognized because he knew how to bring to the big screen the problems, realities, and situations of men in their context, in addition to configuring an aesthetic on how to bring to celluloid those conflicts that literature had already told through the northeastern novel.

Among his works, mention must be made of Rio 40 graus and Rio Zona Norte, his first titles, very close to the tendencies of Italian neorealism; a period in which the making of Vidas secas (1963) stands out as a reference in his work as a director, to which are added the feature films O amuleto de Oggún (1974), Como era gostoso o meu francês (1972), Memórias do cárcere (1984), and A terceira margem do rio (1994).

Before receiving the Coral de Honor, Nelson had already obtained the coveted Havana parchment for his fiction Memórias do cárcere at the sixth edition of the forum, in addition to his exceptional contribution to Cinema Novo and his relations with Latin American Cinema.

Likewise, his interventions can be found in documentaries such as Cinema novo (2016), by Eryk Rocha, which explores the transcendence of this movement that characterized the cultural trajectory of Brazilian cinema, its legacy, and its permanence in the cinematography of the region.

With his extensive cinematographic work, Pereira dos Santos built an argumentative and aesthetic line that can be appreciated in his filmography—from society, individuals, history, and time, all of it appearing in his films as provocations for viewers.

The presentation of this Coral de Honor to the great Brazilian filmmaker recognized his intense work, as well as the achievement of that symbolic and cultural space that his stories contributed as part of a solid and fruitful filmography.