Thaelman Urgelles

Directing

Thaelman Urgelles

Born 1948-11-16 · Barquisimeto, Venezuela

Thaelman Urgelles is a Venezuelan filmmaker. Born in Barquisimeto, he began studying psychology, art, and social communication in 1965. He then worked as a journalist covering sports and current affairs. Beginning in 1973, he became involved in a theater project that eventually led him to cinema—starting with small productions in Super 8 and 16 mm, as well as educational and political documentaries and narrative short films. His first feature film was part of the prolific cinematic movement that made Venezuela the third-largest producer of feature films in Latin America at the time. Co-directed with Carlos Rebolledo in 1977, Alias (El rey del Joropo) was based on Edmundo Aray's Los cuentos de Alfredo Alvarado. The film explores the life of a famous Venezuelan dancer and criminal, told through the format of a television program that recounts his gruesome adventures while also revealing the contradictions of the television medium itself. Urgelles went on to become one of Venezuela's most successful and acclaimed directors. He produced and directed La venganza o ¡Qué bellas son las flores! (1978), a satire of the deep social inequalities in Venezuelan society. He also directed La boda (The Wedding), considered by many to be one of the greatest Venezuelan films of all time. The film revolves around a wedding in which the guests form a microcosmic representation of the nation—its past, present, and future—bringing together different social classes and tracing thirty years of Venezuelan history, including the country’s transition from dictatorship to democracy between 1950 and 1980. His subsequent productions, El atentado (1984) and La generación Halley (1986), which he wrote and directed, were films aimed at reaching a larger audience. During this period, he also produced Casa tomada (1985) and Pacto de sangre (1988), both directed by his wife Malena Roncayolo. Between 1987 and 1990, he produced several documentaries and directed two television miniseries. Urgelles was a key figure in the institutionalization of Venezuelan cinema beginning in 1976. He served as president of the National Association of Film Authors (Asociación Nacional de Autores Cinematográficos, ANAC), among other roles. In 2000, he adapted Edilio Peña’s 1975 play Los pájaros se van con la muerte (The Birds Leave with Death) for the big screen.

Acting credits

Behind the camera

Bleeding Gold poster
NR

In the southeast region of Venezuela, officially known as the Orinoco Mining Arc, an unprecedented ecocide is taking place, where a complex criminal network with transnational characteristics is being articulated. Its consequences are massively damaging the environment and the human rights of dozens of indigenous communities, leading to a historical environmental catastrophe hidden in the lungs of the planet.

Bleeding Gold

2022

Bleeding Gold poster
NR

In the southeast region of Venezuela, officially known as the Orinoco Mining Arc, an unprecedented ecocide is taking place, where a complex criminal network with transnational characteristics is being articulated. Its consequences are massively damaging the environment and the human rights of dozens of indigenous communities, leading to a historical environmental catastrophe hidden in the lungs of the planet.

Bleeding Gold

2022

Bleeding Gold poster
NR

In the southeast region of Venezuela, officially known as the Orinoco Mining Arc, an unprecedented ecocide is taking place, where a complex criminal network with transnational characteristics is being articulated. Its consequences are massively damaging the environment and the human rights of dozens of indigenous communities, leading to a historical environmental catastrophe hidden in the lungs of the planet.

Bleeding Gold

2022

El atentado poster
9.0

Dr. Rodolfo Arias, a controversial and corrupt lawyer, is the victim of an attack and he points to his two enemies Miguel Guevara and Javier Roldán as the ones responsible. Faced with this situation, Guevara proposes to Roldán a plan to assassinate the lawyer. Fucho, a young criminal whose brother had been a victim of Arias' corruption, together with two other thugs, would be responsible for perpetrating the murder.

El atentado

1985

El atentado poster
9.0

Dr. Rodolfo Arias, a controversial and corrupt lawyer, is the victim of an attack and he points to his two enemies Miguel Guevara and Javier Roldán as the ones responsible. Faced with this situation, Guevara proposes to Roldán a plan to assassinate the lawyer. Fucho, a young criminal whose brother had been a victim of Arias' corruption, together with two other thugs, would be responsible for perpetrating the murder.

El atentado

1985

Pacto de sangre poster
10.0

A terrible secret is hidden between the walls of an old house, the past returns and now, for Irene and Alberto, the moment of their condemnation and destruction has arrived.

Pacto de sangre

1987

Hounded on a Carnival Monday poster
4.7

In the small town of San Jorge, a 12- year-old girl watches in horror as her father, a local telegraph operator is thrown in prison by the local military dictatorship. Meanwhile, her mother, Florencia, must make tough moral decisions in order for them to survive under the political oppression. Even Carnival, with all its colorfulness and celebration, cant disguise the mounting tension between the villagers and government making the girls coming of age all the more difficult when the two collide. This movie combines attractive visual scenes with a highly sensual atmosphere as Florencia fights and uses all her resources and beauty to survive and find revenge.

Hounded on a Carnival Monday

2002

The Wedding poster
6.8

A politically charged film, where a series of archetypal characters are presented.

The Wedding

1982

The Wedding poster
6.8

A politically charged film, where a series of archetypal characters are presented.

The Wedding

1982

(Alias) El Rey del Joropo poster
6.0

Alfredo Alvarado is a famous dancer and criminal from Venezuela. His horrifying adventures are narrated through a television program. It exposes the contradictions of that context. It is based on the book Los cuentos de Alfredo Alvarado “El Rey del Joropo", by Edmundo Aray.

(Alias) El Rey del Joropo

1978

(Alias) El Rey del Joropo poster
6.0

Alfredo Alvarado is a famous dancer and criminal from Venezuela. His horrifying adventures are narrated through a television program. It exposes the contradictions of that context. It is based on the book Los cuentos de Alfredo Alvarado “El Rey del Joropo", by Edmundo Aray.

(Alias) El Rey del Joropo

1978

Los pájaros se van con la muerte poster
4.0

The obsession of The Mother for The Negro causes her sick relationship with The Daughter. Mother and daughter perform a daily routine of rites to conjure The Negro's soul. It pushes them into the dolorous tragedy which will consume them.

Los pájaros se van con la muerte

2013

Los pájaros se van con la muerte poster
4.0

The obsession of The Mother for The Negro causes her sick relationship with The Daughter. Mother and daughter perform a daily routine of rites to conjure The Negro's soul. It pushes them into the dolorous tragedy which will consume them.

Los pájaros se van con la muerte

2013

La generación Halley poster
5.8

The story tells the emotional conflicts of a group of young friends, who represent a generation that was characterized by family problems and live music. His great dream was to attend a concert by singer Melissa, while their private dramas were changing their lives.

La generación Halley

1986

Los Platos del Diablo poster
7.0

Ricardo Azolar is looking for the right words, the exact phrases that will give him literary glory. The days are sterile and lacking in those brilliant ideas that should allow him to express through narrative, the fertile flow arising from the imagination. Until he meets Lisbeth, venus and intoxicating muse who nevertheless compels him to write irrelevant and devoid of any imagination literary texts.

Los Platos del Diablo

1992

Los Platos del Diablo poster
7.0

Ricardo Azolar is looking for the right words, the exact phrases that will give him literary glory. The days are sterile and lacking in those brilliant ideas that should allow him to express through narrative, the fertile flow arising from the imagination. Until he meets Lisbeth, venus and intoxicating muse who nevertheless compels him to write irrelevant and devoid of any imagination literary texts.

Los Platos del Diablo

1992

Los Platos del Diablo poster
7.0

Ricardo Azolar is looking for the right words, the exact phrases that will give him literary glory. The days are sterile and lacking in those brilliant ideas that should allow him to express through narrative, the fertile flow arising from the imagination. Until he meets Lisbeth, venus and intoxicating muse who nevertheless compels him to write irrelevant and devoid of any imagination literary texts.

Los Platos del Diablo

1992