Adela Legrá, who died on 2 January 2026, was an iconic figure in Cuban cinema and one of the most celebrated actors on the island’s film and television screens. Lucía was the film that brought her to the attention of audiences in Cuba—and far beyond—and Screen Cuba audiences will be delighted to see it will be a highlight of this year’s Festival. Described as “a symbol of the foundational era of revolutionary cinema”, she was admired for her natural, deeply expressive performances. In Lucía, Adela plays a peasant woman in the early years of the Revolution, the third ‘Lucia’, a role that made her a powerful symbol of Cuban women and their fight for emancipation.

Adela grew up in a humble peasant family in eastern Cuba, working in coffee harvesting, crop planting and domestic labour. In the 1960s she became an activist in the Federation of Cuban Women, and her life changed when director Humberto Solás cast her in Manuela, a film that made a big impact at the time. Many important roles in Cuban cinema followed. But above all it was Lucia that ensured her legacy as “an essential reference point in Cuba’s cultural memory”.

Lucía (1968), directed by Humberto Solás. will be presented at Screen Cuba 2026

Read about filming the scene which led to the most famous film still portrait of Adela as Lucia (below), when Adela was interviewed in Cuba in 2003:

“For the photo of Lucía, the famous photo of Lucía, Humberto wanted me to run so I’d look out of breath. So I said to him, “Oh, you want me to run? That’s the easiest thing for me.” I can’t even put my feet on the ground, but I took off my shoes anyway and started running and running, through all the snails and other things in that salt flat in Nuevitas. […] Luckily, the lighting technician was following me in a jeep, because I fainted. I fell with my feet on the ground and my head in the water. I got completely soaked. When I got wet, they dried my hair with a towel and put a hat on me to protect me from the sun. When I got to where Humberto was, he was fascinated by my appearance, and he said there wasn’t time to touch up my makeup, that it had to be as I was at that moment. And that’s where the famous look I gave Humberto comes from, because I have to say it wasn’t for the actor, but for the director who I wanted to tear apart. The salt flat sequence is my favourite, actually. I feel like we poured our hearts and souls into making it happen. The whole film was made with love, but I think this part is special, or at least that’s how I feel. Those women running after us, and then the music from “Guantanamera” comes in—it was a truly powerful moment that I remember fondly. Lucía lives on in me; that’s the conclusion I’ve reached […] because it was such an intense experience. That Lucía will always be here, in my heart…” ADELA LEGRÁ, from Lucia and time 2003.