Puerto Rican documentary filmmaker, screenwriter and producer Ivonne Belén died on the night of Thursday, November 12, at age 71, the cause not disclosed. Producer Arleen Cruz Alicea confirmed the death. Born in San Juan in 1955, Belén studied Arts and Communications at the University of Puerto Rico, earned a master’s in creative writing and a doctorate in Puerto Rican and Caribbean literature, and began her career designing art for films including "La guagua aérea" before founding her production company, The Paradiso Film Company.
Her 1996 film "Una pasión llamada Clara Lair" won multiple international awards in Cuba, Chile and the United States and marked its 30th anniversary this year. It was followed by "Julia, toda en mí" (2002), based on poet Julia de Burgos’s letters and featuring the voices of Benicio del Toro and Jacobo Morales, and documentaries on poet Edwin Reyes and the Figueroa family’s musical dynasty.
She brought workshops to communities such as La Perla through her project "El cine como juego" and spoke openly about living with bipolar disorder. Belén was finishing "Di corazón: Sylvia," on poet Sylvia Rexach; Cruz Alicea, its producer, said the premiere remains planned for early 2027. On Wednesday, November 4, Belén was honored at the 17th Puerto Rico European Film Festival at the Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, where Glorimar Marrero Sánchez read a profile of her at the Teatro Raúl Juliá.