Treasured filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola is a cinematic force to be reckoned with, and, given his impressive body of work and knowhow, he's paying it forward by sharing his insight with aspiring Cuban filmmakers.

He also brought some good wine and delicious pasta to share with the film students. After all, he's Italian-American and a celebrated winemaker!

On Tuesday, Coppola, who helmed the famous "Godfather" trilogy starring the iconic Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, Diane Keaton and Andy Garcia, visited Cuba's International School of Cinema and Television of San Antonio de los Banos, or EICTV, which is west of Havana, according to EFE.

During his visit, he expressed his admiration for President Barack Obama and his happiness to see Cuba and the United States resuming diplomatic relations.

"I am very happy, I think it's wonderful," Coppola told EFE.

Thrilled to see tensions ease during his lifetime, Coppola further expressed his gratitude.

"I thought it was going to happen during the term of President (Jimmy) Carter (...) Now we have (Barack) Obama, in my opinion a great president, and I know he feels we should have relations with Cuba, and I repeat, I am happy that we are seeing it materialize," he added.

While the situation isn't perfect and there's still a lot of work to do, Coppola pointed out the benefit of a Cuban embassy in our nation's capital.

After the political talk, Coppola rolled up his sleeves to make homemade pasta accompanied by his signature sauce for 150 film students.

He wined and dined and talked shop with the students. He also offered some advice, which included taking risks and stay true to yourself, even though it can leave a huge whole in your wallet.

"You have to be part Machiavellian, part showman," he said from the cafeteria kitchen of the film school, High Brow Magazine adds. "Most of all you have to have courage because it's always easy to take the easy road.

"For me that would have been to make more gangster films," he added. "Then after 'Apocalypse Now' became something of a classic, I could have made more war films. They always want you to make more of what they know could make money. They never want you to do what's really in your heart."

The 76-year-old icon also pointed out the interest that American filmmakers have to shoot on the beautiful island of Cuba.

"I am very happy to be in Cuba. I have always enjoyed being with students, when you spend time with them, you learn a lot, because you become a student as well," he said.

Coppola was also joined by his Oscar-winning son, Roman Coppola, and his family, EFE adds. The family celebrated his grandchild's birthday in the institute's park, where they were surrounded by the film school's diverse youth.

EICTV was the brainchild of Nobel Prize-winning Colombian writer Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Argentine filmmaker Fernando Birri and Cuban filmmaker Julio Garcia Espinosa. During its inception in 1986, the EICTV received support from former President Fidel Castro.

This visit isn't the first for Coppola, who reportedly visited the film school in 1989 for a workshop on scriptwriting and returned again in 1993.

The six-time Academy Award winner, who also directed the "The Conversation" and "Dracula," among others, also received the Princess of Asturias Prize for arts this year, adding to his impressive collection of accolades.