While on a highly productive research residency in Cuba, during which she and a filmmaking crew continued work on a number of documentaries in development, conducting interviews with important interlocutors and visiting museums and archives, Dr. Juanamaria Cordones-Cook was honored with the Dulce María Loynaz International Award by Cuba's National Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba (UNEAC) and the José Antonio Aponte Commission of struggle against racism and discrimination.

The ceremony was attended by the Vice Minister of Culture, Fernando Rojas, and crowned with an emotional interpretation of the piece La ruta del esclavo, by its author, Gerardo Alfonso, protagonist of one of Dr. Cordones-Cook's most recent audiovisual productions. In his laudatio, Luis Morlote, president of Union of Cuban Artists and Writers (UNEAC), described how Cuban culture has been a "constant passion and permanent commitment" for Dr. Cordones-Cook as she has produced more than thirty documentaries about Cuba's rich cultural and intellectual tradition.