Nelson Rodríguez joined the Cuban film institute in 1960 as production assistant and then producer,
working with
Santiago Álvarez. By mid-1960's he was editing features and
co-writing scripts, mainly with his friend
Humberto Solás,
though he also worked with
Tomás Gutiérrez Alea,
Manuel Octavio Gómez
and
Sergio Giral. His work extended to a new generation of Cuban
filmmakers, and with the top directors of Latin American cinema, as
Miguel Littin,
Jaime Humberto Hermosillo,
Patricio Guzmán,
Lisandro Duque Naranjo and
María Novaro. In 1983 he fulfilled an old dream when he
directed
Amada (1983), an adaptation of Miguel de Carrión's novel "La
esfinge", but due to the Cuban film institute's policy, the direction
credit was given to Solás. He taught at the International School of
Film and Television in Havana, worked as editor in Spain, Chile,
Mexico, Argentina, Bolivia and Panama; and received many awards for his work. Nelson Rodríguez died in 2020.