Lourdes Portillo
Encyclopedia
Lourdes Portillo is an American
screenwriter
and filmmaker. While the majority of her work is in the documentary film
genre, she has also created video installation
s and written for the stage. Her films have been much studied and analyzed, particularly by scholars in the field of Chicano studies.
She is a member of the production team of Xochitl Productions, which seeks to "inform the general population through varied endeavors that challenge dominant narratives."
and raised in the United States. She was first exposed to documentary filmmaking while working for a company that made educational films in Los Angeles. She apprenticed with the National Association of Broadcast Engineers and Technicians in San Francisco, and graduated from the San Francisco Art Institute
in 1978. Thereafter she began her career as a producer and director.
and the Latin American experience in the United States. Her film debut, for example, the 1979
Después del Terremoto, focuses on the experience of a Nicaragua
n refugee of the 1972 Managua earthquake in San Francisco. It was followed by Madres: The Mothers of Plaza de Mayo, a 1986
co-production with the Argentine
director Susana Blaustein Muñoz
which documented the actions of Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, a group of Argentine women who gather weekly at the Plaza de Mayo
in Buenos Aires
to remember their children that were murdered or "disappeared
" by the military regime.
Other films have centered on Day of the Dead
celebrations, Selena
, the Female homicides in Ciudad Juárez
, and AIDS
.
She has also collaborated with the Chicano
comedy
troupe Culture Clash
on two productions: Columbus on Trial
and Culture Clash: Mission Magic Mystery Tour. She has also collaborated with the San Francisco Mime Troupe
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
and filmmaker. While the majority of her work is in the documentary film
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
genre, she has also created video installation
Video installation
Video installation is a contemporary art form that combines video technology with installation art, making use of all aspects of the surrounding environment to affect the audience. Tracing its origins to the birth of video art in the 1970s, it has increased in popularity as digital video production...
s and written for the stage. Her films have been much studied and analyzed, particularly by scholars in the field of Chicano studies.
She is a member of the production team of Xochitl Productions, which seeks to "inform the general population through varied endeavors that challenge dominant narratives."
Biography
Portillo was born in MexicoMexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
and raised in the United States. She was first exposed to documentary filmmaking while working for a company that made educational films in Los Angeles. She apprenticed with the National Association of Broadcast Engineers and Technicians in San Francisco, and graduated from the San Francisco Art Institute
San Francisco Art Institute
San Francisco Art Institute is a school of higher education in contemporary art with the main campus in the Russian Hill district of San Francisco, California. Its graduate center is in the Dogpatch neighborhood. The private, non-profit institution is accredited by WASC and is a member of the...
in 1978. Thereafter she began her career as a producer and director.
Work
Portillo's films tend to focus on Latin AmericaLatin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
and the Latin American experience in the United States. Her film debut, for example, the 1979
1979 in film
The year 1979 in film involved some significant events.- Major events :* March 5 - Production begins on Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back.* May 25 - Alien, a landmark of the science fiction genre, is released....
Después del Terremoto, focuses on the experience of a Nicaragua
Nicaragua
Nicaragua is the largest country in the Central American American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean...
n refugee of the 1972 Managua earthquake in San Francisco. It was followed by Madres: The Mothers of Plaza de Mayo, a 1986
1986 in film
-Events:*April 12 - Actor Morgan Mason marries The Go-Go's Belinda Carlisle.*April 26 - Actor Arnold Schwarzenegger marries television journalist Maria Shriver.*May - Actress Heather Locklear marries Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee....
co-production with the Argentine
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
director Susana Blaustein Muñoz
Susana Blaustein Muñoz
Susana Blaustein Muñoz is an Argentine film director. She directed four films since she started her career in 1980, and produced one of them, the documentary Las Madres de Plaza de Mayo , about the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo who looked for their disappeared children during the Dirty War...
which documented the actions of Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, a group of Argentine women who gather weekly at the Plaza de Mayo
Plaza de Mayo
The Plaza de Mayo is the main square in downtown Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is flanked by Hipólito Yrigoyen, Balcarce, Rivadavia and Bolívar streets....
in Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
to remember their children that were murdered or "disappeared
Forced disappearance
In international human rights law, a forced disappearance occurs when a person is secretly abducted or imprisoned by a state or political organization or by a third party with the authorization, support, or acquiescence of a state or political organization, followed by a refusal to acknowledge the...
" by the military regime.
Other films have centered on Day of the Dead
Day of the Dead
Day of the Dead is a Mexican holiday celebrated throughout Mexico and around the world in many cultures. The holiday focuses on gatherings of family and friends to pray for and remember friends and family members who have died. It is particularly celebrated in Mexico, where it attains the quality...
celebrations, Selena
Selena
Selena Quintanilla-Pérez , known simply as Selena, was a Mexican American singer-songwriter. She was named the "top Latin artist of the '90s" and "Best selling Latin artist of the decade" by Billboard for her fourteen top-ten singles in the Top Latin Songs chart, including seven number-one hits...
, the Female homicides in Ciudad Juárez
Female homicides in Ciudad Juárez
The phenomenon of the female homicides in Ciudad Juárez, called in Spanish the feminicidios and las muertas de Juárez , involves the violent deaths of hundreds of women since 1993 in the northern Mexican city of Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, a border city across the Rio Grande from the U.S. city of El...
, and AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
.
She has also collaborated with the Chicano
Chicano
The terms "Chicano" and "Chicana" are used in reference to U.S. citizens of Mexican descent. However, those terms have a wide range of meanings in various parts of the world. The term began to be widely used during the Chicano Movement, mainly among Mexican Americans, especially in the movement's...
comedy
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
troupe Culture Clash
Culture Clash (performance troupe)
Culture Clash is an Chicano American performance troupe composed of the writer-comedians Richard Montoya, Ric Salinas, and Herbert Sigüenza. Their work is of a satirical nature....
on two productions: Columbus on Trial
Columbus on Trial
Columbus on Trial was a film directed by Lourdes Portillo in 1992. The 18-minute film, acted and co-written by the comic trio Culture Clash, acts out a simulated trial that Christopher Columbus is put in as they lived through the 500th anniversary of his discovery. The film commences by portraying...
and Culture Clash: Mission Magic Mystery Tour. She has also collaborated with the San Francisco Mime Troupe
San Francisco Mime Troupe
The San Francisco Mime Troupe is a theatre of political satire which performs free shows in various parks in the San Francisco Bay Area and around California. The Troupe does not, however, perform silent mime, but each year creates an original musical comedy that combines aspects of Commedia...
.
Filmography
- After the Earthquake/Después de Terremoto (1979)
- Las Madres: The Mothers of Plaza de Mayo (1986)
- La Ofrenda: The Days of the Dead (1988)
- Vida (1989)
- Columbus on TrialColumbus on TrialColumbus on Trial was a film directed by Lourdes Portillo in 1992. The 18-minute film, acted and co-written by the comic trio Culture Clash, acts out a simulated trial that Christopher Columbus is put in as they lived through the 500th anniversary of his discovery. The film commences by portraying...
(1992) - Mirrors of the Heart (1993)
- Sometimes my Feet go Numb (1994)
- The Devil Never Sleeps/El Diablo Nunca Duerme (1994)
- This is Your Day/Hoy es tu Día (1998)
- Corpus: A Home Movie About SelenaCorpus: A Home Movie About SelenaCorpus: A Home Movie about Selena is a film by filmmaker, Lourdes Portillo about Mexican American singer-songwriter Selena Quintanilla-Pérez. It places emphasis on the transformation of Selena from a popular entertainer into a modern-day saint and role model...
(1999) - Conversations With Intellectuals About Selena (1999)
- Culture Clash: Mission Magic Mystery Tour (2001)
- Señorita Extraviada/Missing Young Woman (2001)
- My McQueen (2004)