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Leon Ichaso
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Leon Ichaso

Leon Ichaso is the writer and director of Pinero. He has distinguished himself in both features and television as a director of provocative, independently-minded and sometimes controversial projects. Ichaso manages to bridge the gap between mainstream projects and offbeat films wedded to his Latino cultural roots, infusing both strong visuals, evocative atmosphere and unflinching drama.

He directed the feature films Bitter Sugar (Azucar Amarga), a critically-acclaimed, black-and-white, Spanish-language love story set against the highly volatile political backdrop of contemporary Cuba; Sugar Hill, starring Wesley Snipes in a gritty look at a regretful Harlem drug dealer's attempts to extricate himself from a vicious circle of violence; Crossover Dreams, a vibrant salsa drama, which helped launch the careers of both Ruben Blades and Elizabeth Pena. Ichaso's first feature project was El Super, a New York-set comedy, which has won cult status since its 1979 release.

Ichaso has directed five films for the Showtime Network, having lensed Zooman, The Fear Inside, for which he received a CableACE nomination, and more recently, Free Of Eden, starring Sydney Poitier, Executive Justice, starring Tim Daly and Peter Coyote, and Hendrix.

Ichaso helped change the look of Network television through his groundbreaking work as the director of several episodes of Miami Vice, and helming the first four entries of Michael Mann's Tales From The Hollywood Hills: A Table At Circo's for the 'Great Performances' series. He also wrote and directed film segments for Saturday Night Live, as well as the movies-of-the-week The Take and A Kiss To Die For.


Note: This profile was written in or before 2003.

Leon Ichaso Facts

OccupationDirector, Screenwriter
BirthplaceHavana, Cuba

Selected Filmography

Not available.