Santiago 'Chago' Benet
Birth : 1981-04-13, Santurce, Puerto Rico
Camera Operator
To save their cash-strapped orphanage, a guardian and his kids partner with a washed-up boat captain for a chance to win a lucrative fishing competition.
Director of Photography
The dreams of five strangers traveling to Puerto Rico are put on hold when immigration authorities confine them in 'El cuartito'.
Cinematography
The documentary "We Would All Be Kings" recovers the voice and humanity of a marginalized community and captures the beginning of a rehabilitation process, through the participation of 7 inmates in a creative writing workshop. The motivation and transformation witnessed in the participants are the driving force of a documentary that intertwines their testimonies with fiction short films based on the autobiographical stories they wrote
Cinematography
Two months after Hurricane Maria landed on the shores of Puerto Rico, the power remains out and the infrastructure continues to collapse. Junior, a ten-year-old boy, is summoned by his mother to search for the medicine his grandfather so desperately needs. He puts on a blue cape, made of the tarp that covers his roof, to overcome the obstacles in his journey and save his grandfather’s life.
Cinematography
125 years of music in Puerto Rico from 1893 to 2018.
Cinematography
The Secretary of Health of Puerto Rico, Dr. Eduardo Suáre does not agree with the new health reform that the Governor imposes on the country. At the same time, his wife with whom he has been married for more than 30 years and with whom he has six children, has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's. Eduardo faces two crises, one of country and one in his home. Over time the disease completely takes his wife and Eduardo, who left his post in government to dedicate himself to his family, is in need to continue with his life. Submerged in the pain that causes the disease, not only the patient but the relatives and those closest to him, Eduardo begins a new love relationship that gives him back the desire to live.
Cinematography
The story of the basketball players that represented Puerto Rico at the San Juan's 1979 Pan Am Games.
Cinematography
An archeologist becomes obsessed with an inexplicable finding that shakes the world. He discovers the shape of a contemporary astronaut in an ancient archaeological site.
Director of Photography
Manolo is a private detective who specializes in adultery cases. Commissioned by one of the victims, he takes photos and videos of adulterous couples in fraganti. He often attempts double-schemes, however, by sending the evidence to the other victim, in an attempt to exploit and benefit from both parts.
Director of Photography
Ten years after a tsunami destroyed a small-town elementary school with all the children inside, a young man builds a mysterious structure out of the school's remains, setting the town aflame with passions long forgotten.
Cinematography
Teenager Carmín lives in a mountainous village in the center of Puerto Rico with her tough and conservative grandmother. Her mother left for the US without her. The arrival of her father, after long years in prison, eases Carmín’s profound sadness. The relationship with him, however, brings its own ambiguousness and complexities and as Carmín moves into womanhood this causes great confusion, mostly for her.
Director of Photography
Jimena Silva, a young author, struggles with herself in order to finish her latest piece. Just three weeks shy of her upcoming deadline, Jimena searches for what she considers are the crucial moments in every relationship. Jimena drowns in the depths of her own experiences as she tries to find her Muse.
Director of Photography
Yahaira is an unwed mom that has to take care of her child during work hours, something that has happened before.
Second Unit Cinematographer
A coming of age story about a 16-year-old boy who finds himself searching for escape in the island of Puerto Rico after his mother leaves him and his sister with his grandparents in a surf town. His fascination with a hula hoop model leads him to steal his grandfather’s car to meet the object of his affection in person.
Director of Photography
When an eight year old asks his mom "where do babies come from?", he is forced to embark on an adventure to reverse a spell he did himself.
Director of Photography
Eneida Santiago doesn’t know she will not get in time to see her granddaughter’s piano recital. Several characters converge in this suspense drama that exposes the fragility of human relationships and interpersonal relationships.
Director of Photography
Juan arrives at Gloria's house after being kicked out by his girlfriend. Gloria helps him find a new partner.
Director of Photography
An interracial couple, Seba and Cecilia, have lived a fully creative life as sculptor and photographer and have enjoyed traveling the world. But now that Cecilia has cancer, she fears she won't be able to enjoy the life she's had and wishes she could travel again. Seba uses his creative skills as artist to magically transport Cecilia on a journey through memories they've shared.
Art Direction
Homage to Puerto Rican composer Catalino Curet Alonso, or as his friends and fans call him, "Tite", representing how widely influential the composer remains.
Director of Photography
To confront the harsh reality of being accused for sexually molesting his own daughter, a man seeks escape in his mind.
Gaffer
An old man takes care of his senile wife.
Cinematography
Andrés is a nine year old boy musician who plays the treble. On the way to a recital with his parents and in the midst of endless traffic, he tries to practice the melody he’ll be playing. Frustrated by the traffic, the heat, and that he can’t play the piece correctly, Andrés bursts in anger, throwing his instrument, which stops time as it touches the floor.
Electrician
The Argentine, begins as Che and a band of Cuban exiles (led by Fidel Castro) reach the Cuban shore from Mexico in 1956. Within two years, they mobilized popular support and an army and toppled the U.S.-friendly regime of dictator Fulgencio Batista.
Gaffer
A young clown decides to abandon the small-town circus he works for in order to try and make it in a big city.
Director of Photography
Documentary on the most important pro-independence organization in the occupied territory known as Puerto Rico.