Yuli

Yuli tells the story of the Cuban dancer Carlos Acosta (who plays himself), from his beginnings in a poor neighbourhood of Havana until becoming the star of one of the biggest ballet companies in the world. Yuli (Carlos's nickname) is a gifted boy who doesn't want to be a dancer but who, forced by his father Pedro, and tutored by the professor and director of the Cuban National School of Ballet, Cherry, will become one of the best dancers of his generation, breaking taboos on becoming the first black dancer to play Romeo at the Royal Ballet in London, where he forged his stellar career and his legend for 17 years.

Icíar Bollaín made her acting debut at 15 and was chosen a year later, at 16, by Víctor Erice to star in El sur, a play that launched her significant acting career. In early 1991, she founded Producciones La Iguana with Santiago García de Leániz and Gonzalo Tapia, with whom she took her first steps into directing. In 1995, Icíar took a turning point in her career when she decided to collaborate with director Ken Loach, with whom she had worked on Tierra y libertad (1995), to write a book about the English director and his work, titled Ken Loach, un observador solidario (1996). She was chosen as Best Spanish Actress of 1992 by Cartelera Turia magazine and received the Ojo Crítico II Milenio Award from Radio Nacional de España in 1993. She is a member of the Spanish Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences. The director considers cinema a very powerful tool for achieving social transformation and creating a more egalitarian society.

Icíar Bollaín's Filmography: