Kiriam Gutiérrez Pérez
(b. 1977, Havana, Cuba)
Kiriam Gutiérrez Pérez won for the production of an audiovisual documentary on the history of activism of trans people in Cuba, with an emphasis on the period of the so-called Cuban Revolution. Gutiérrez Pérez has been an independent trans activist for LGBTIQ+ rights for more than two decades. She was the first to lead the TransCuba group, founded by the Centro Nacional de Educación Sexual (Cenesex) to meet the demands of trans people and their families.
Gutiérrez Pérez started her career as a drag queen 26 years ago. She was the first trans woman to work as a professional model (1996), dressed by designers such as Ismael de la Caridad, Rafael D’León, Abraham García and Ariel Nápoles. She was also the first to appear in public health promotion for the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases and HIV/AIDS, to star in a music video clip (“Lola,” by Moneda Dura, 2001), to work in “official” cinema (Buscando la Morosa, Anna Assenza, 2000) and to have a contract with Cuban Television for the series Patrulla 444 (Roly Peña, 2008).
Her film career includes roles in Habana Blues (Benito Zambrano, 2004), H2O (Leonardo Pérez, 2008), Los dioses rotos (Ernesto Daranas, 2008), El hombre que hablaba con marte (Jorge Molina, 2009), Seven Days in Havana (Benicio del Toro, 2012), Vestido de novia (Marilyn Solaya, 2013), Que sea niña (Florencia Coleman, 2018), and in the augmented virtual reality film Los ojos de Mila Kaos. She has participated in the documentary films Ella trabaja (Jesús Hernández, 2008) and Estoy viva te lo cuento (Ingrid León y Lissett Vila, 2015).
In 2021, she became the first Cuban trans woman to direct an audiovisual material, the video clip “Es mi vida,” promoting a campaign for the recognition of equal marriage, the Trans Identity Law, and other demands to be legislated in Cuba that year.