Omar Parada

Biography

Omar Gregorio Parada (1922-1987) was an Uruguayan filmmaker. He was member of Cine Universitario del Uruguay (1972-1975) and of Grupo de Cine Montevideo. In Buenos Aires, he contributed to the organization and programming of the Cine Club Amigos de Cinemateca Argentina.

Parada's work is representative of Uruguayan cinema during the period 1950-1970. He wrote and directed five films, documentaries and fiction shorts in 16 mm, including A Holiday (Un feriado) in 1952 and Topic of Illness and Death (Tema de enfermedad y muerte) in 1953. Miguelete: Heads and Tails of a Stream (Miguelete: cara y cruz de un arroyo, 1952) is considered one of the first documentary about contaminated water in Uruguay. His science fiction film Maybe Tomorrow (Tal vez mañana, 1966) was awarded the best film of Uruguay in 1966. Montevideo Today (Montevideo hoy, 1968-1972), a documentary film about the political and social reality of Uruguay, was taken by the military dictatorship (1973-1985) and is now lost.