Venezuelan filmmaker, writer and historian Luis Alberto Lamata died on 24 August at the age of 65, authorities and local media reported. The cause of death was not immediately disclosed. Lamata, born in Caracas in 1959 and trained as a historian at the Central University of Venezuela, built a four-decade career that spanned more than 50 film and television projects. His credits include the historical features “Jericó” (1990) and “Bolívar, el hombre de las dificultades” (2013), works that helped establish him as a leading voice in Latin American cinema. The director received Venezuela’s Premio Nacional de Cultura and was nominated for Spain’s Goya Awards, collecting additional honours at festivals in Havana, Biarritz, Cartagena, Sochi and Trieste. Venezuela’s culture minister, Ernesto Villegas, called him “a giant” whose contribution to national cinema will endure.