The Cuban film institute ICAIC has announced they will be using the £11,000 funds raised by Screen Cuba 2026 for the digitization and restoration of the first animated full length feature film in Cuban cinema and four more shorts by Cuba’s father of animation Juan Padrón.

Elpidio Valdés (1979, 70m) directed by Juan Padrón and produced by ICAIC, chronicles the origins of the iconic Mambí freedom fighter, set primarily during the start of the Cuban War of Independence in 1895. The stories combine 19th-century historical anti-colonial struggle with lighthearted, Cuban satire “humor criollo” and swashbuckling adventure aimed at younger audiences.

Juan Padron was born in Matanzas in 1947 and passed away in Havana on March 24, 2020. He is regarded as the father of Cuban cinematic animation and was the recipient of the National Film Award in 2008. He created the mambí colonel in 1970 for the magazine Pionero; the character made his cinematic debut in 1974 with a short film and reached its peak with the 1979 feature film, a landmark in Latin American animation.

The restoration work will be carried out by the Colombian Film Heritage Foundation (Fundación Patrimonio Fílmico Colombiano). According to Jorge Mario Vera, the technical deputy director of the Colombian institution, “restoring these works provides the opportunity to journey through the memory of the sociopolitical moments of various countries throughout history.”

The four animated short films being restored are:

‘Elpidio Valdés encuentra a Palmiche’( 1977, 7m) , ‘Elpidio Valdés fuerza la trocha’ (1978, 8m) ,  ‘Elpidio Valdés contra la cañonera’ (1980, 8m) , ‘Elpidio Valdés en campaña de verano’ (1988, 8m)

It was announced by the director of ICAIC during the plenary session of the 2nd International Congress on the Protection of Cultural Heritage in Havana in July.