Luis Molina Casanova

Biography

Luis Molina Casanova (Ciales, Puerto Rico, August 27, 1951) is a Puerto Rican film director, screenwriter and producer. He is one of the most prestigious and award-winning filmmakers on the Caribbean island of recent times, highlighting in his filmography documentaries and films that have investigated the idiosyncrasies, history or literature of Puerto Rico such as La guagua aérea or the Tales of Abelardo. In addition, his academic work, carried out for more than 40 years at the University of the Sacred Heart1, has led him to teach at other universities such as the University of Guadalajara or Harvard University. Luis Molina Casanova was born on August 27, 1965 in the municipality of Ciales, into a family of descent from the Canary Islands. He studied Business Administration at the University of Puerto Rico before entering to work on the television network WIPR-TV (Channel 6) where he began working as a cameraman in different cultural programs of the station. He later travels to the United States and works as a photojournalist for major American networks such as CBS or NBC. He moves to Madrid, where he holds a master's degree in Film Production and Direction. After this training experience, he returns to Puerto Rico and records several documentary projects related to culture. Molina is considered one of the great documentary filmmakers of the country for his work of disseminating countless fragments of the cultural life of the country: the development of the train, the arrival of the telephone or the life of historical characters such as Pedro Albizu Campos, Juan Ramón Jiménez or Luis Muñoz Marín. Subsequently, he becomes part of the staff of the faculty of the University of the Sacred Heart as a resident filmmaker in the Department of Communications, since he has worked to this day. Among other distinctions, he is Citizen of the Year 1999 (Club of Lions of San Juan), Special Recognition for his cinematographic work (Club of the Library of the Higher School of the Academy of the Sacred Heart, 1995) or Medal of the Virgin of Candelaria, patron saint of the Canary Islands, for representing the Islands worldwide (Cabildo de Gran Canaria). He is also President of the Corporation of Cultural Productions from 1978 to the present day.