Lourdes Portillo

Lourdes Portillo (11 November 1943 – 20 April 2024) was a Mexican film director, producer, and writer. The political perspectives of Portillo's films have been described as "nuanced" and versed with a point of view balanced by her experience as a lesbian and Chicana woman. Portillo films have been widely studied and analyzed, particularly by scholars in the field of Chicano studies.

Portillo got her first filmmaking experience at the age of twenty-one when a friend in Hollywood asked her to help out on a documentary. Portillo formal training began several years later. She had thus been making award-winning films about Latin American, Mexican, and Chicano/a experiences and social justice issues both as a director and screenwriter for about forty years. Since Portillo first film in 1979, After the Earthquake (Después del Terremoto), she produced over 12 works that demonstrate her work as not only a director, but also an activist, artist, and journalist. While the majority of her work is in the documentary film genre, she also created video installations and screen writings.

Personal life Born on 11 November 1943 in Chihuahua, Mexico, Portillo's father's job as an administrator of a newspaper in Mexico and his work on printing projects in the U.S. were among the things that kindled Portillo's keen interest in stories. By the time she was in her twenties, she had gotten a job working for an educational film company in Los Angeles, exposing her to her future career in documentary filmmaking. Wanting to work in a more livelier art film community, Portillo decided to move to San Francisco in the early 1970s. She began working as Stephen Lighthill's assistant in the collective's feature, Over-Under, Sideways-Down (1972).

Career Portillo's films generally focus on Latin America and the experience of Latin American–born immigrants in the United States. During her studies at the San Francisco Art Institute, she made her film debut Después del Terremoto in 1979 alongside codirector Nina Serrano, focusing on the experience of a Nicaraguan refugee of the 1972 Managua earthquake in San Francisco. Portillo's film audience greatly expanded beyond the U.S. and played a major role in publicizing internationally the plight of the mothers and missing children. Covering the mystery surrounding the death of her favorite uncle Oscar Ruiz Almeida, Portillo explored the countless dramas and rumors shared by her family members surrounding her uncle's life and death.

Awards Portillo and her films have won numerous awards, mostly from regional film festivals. Selected awards: After the Earthquake/Después del terremoto (1979)

– Diploma of Honor, Cracow Shorts Film Festival, 1979, Cracow, Poland The Mothers of Plaza de Mayo (1986) – Emmy Nomination, New and Documentary, 1986, the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences – Academy Award Nomination, Best Documentary, 1986, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences – Special Jury Prize, Sundance Film Festival, 1986, Park City, UT – Gran Prix Ex-Aquo, Certamen Internacional de Cine Documental y Corto Metrage, 1986, Bilbao, Spain – Coral Prize, Feature Documentary, Festival Internacional de Cine Latinoamericano, 1986, Havana, Cuba – Blue Ribbon, American Film and Video Festival, 1986 New York, NY – Second Place for Documentary, Sydney Film Festival, 1986, Sydney, Australia – Prix du Public and Prix du Presse, Women's Film Festival, 1986, Creteil, France – Best Film, Global Village Documentary Film Festival, 1986, New York City – First Prize, International Catholic Organization for Cinema and Audio-visuals, 1995, Havana, Cuba – Among Six Best Films, International Documentary Association, 1986, Los Angeles, CA – Caracol Prize from Union of Writers and Artists, International Film Festival, 1985, Havana Cuba – Best of Northern California, National Education Film Festival, 1986, Oakland, CA – Best Film, Sinking Creek Film Festival, 1986, Greeneville, TN – Women Journalists' Association Prize, Women's International Film Festival, 1986, Creteil, Paris – Golden Gate Award, San Francisco International Film Festival, San Francisco, CA La Ofrenda: The Days of the Dead (1988) – Honors, International Documentary Association, 1989, Los Angeles, CA – Best Feature Documentary, Athens Film Festival, 1989, Athens, OH – Director's Choice Selection, Black Maria Film and Video Festival, 1989, West Orange, NJ – Blue Ribbon, American Film and Video Festival, 1990, San Francisco, CA – Special Jury Prize, Sinking Creek Film Festival, 1990, Greeneville, TN – Best Exploration of Belief Prize, VISTAS, A Film Festival of Contemporary Folklife and Popular Culture, 1990, Los Angeles, CA – Outstanding Cinematic Achievement, Best of Category, Documentary Film, National Latino Film and Video Festival, 1991, New York NY Vida (1989) – Cine Golden Eagle, 1990 – Special Mention, San Antonio CineFestival, 1990, San Antonio, TX Columbus on Trial (1992) – Best Video, second place, Visual Artist Third Annual film and Video Festival, 1993, San Jose, CA – Honorable Mention in Native American Studies, American Film and Video Association, Illinois – The 1993 Whitney Museum Biennial, New York, New York Mirrors of the Heart (1993) – Silver Hugo, Chicago Film Festival, 1994, Chicago, IL – Silver Apple, National Educational Film and Video Festival, 1994, Berkeley, CA The Devil Never Sleeps (1994) – Best Five Documentaries of the Year, Independent Documentary Association, 1996, Hollywood, CA – Golden Gate Award, San Francisco International Film Festival, 1995, San Francisco, CA – Best Feature-Length Documentary, San Juan Cinemafest, 1995, San Juan, Puerto Rico – Best Documentary, San Antonio CineFestival, 1995, San Antonio, TX – Best Documentary, Mostra International de Filmes de Dones, 1995, Barcelona, Spain – New Directors / New Films, The Film Society of Lincoln Center and the Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1995, New York City – Most Promising Latino Film, The Independent Feature Project, 1994, New York City – Inclusion in the National Film Registry, 2020 Corpus: A Home Movie for Selena (1999) – Golden Spire, San Francisco International Film Festival, 1999, San Francisco, CA Recipient of CalArts/Herb Alpert Award in the Arts, 1999 Señorita Extraviada (2001) – Special Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival – Best Documentary at the Havana International Film Festival, the Nestor Almendros Award at the Human Rights Watch Film Festival – The Ariel, the Mexican Academy of Film Award – Best Documentary, Cinequest San Jose Film Festival, 2002 – Audience Award for Best Documentary, Créteil International Women's Film Festival, 2002 – IDA Award for Feature Documentaries, International Documentary Association, 2002 – FIPRESCI Prize for International Competition, Thessaloniki Documentary Film Festival, 2002 Recipient of United States Artists (USA) Fellowship, 2008 Anonymous Was A Woman Award, 2016

Filmography

After the Earthquake/Después del Terremoto (1979) The Mothers of Plaza de Mayo (1985) La Ofrenda: The Days of the Dead (1988) Vida (1989) Columbus on Trial (1992) Mirrors of the Heart (1993) The Devil Never Sleeps/El Diablo Nunca Duerme (1994) Sometimes My Feet Go Numb (1995) This is Your Day/Hoy es tu Día (1995) 13 Days (1997) Corpus: A Home Movie About Selena (1999) Conversations With Academics About Selena (1999) Culture Clash: Mission Magic Mystery Tour (2001) Señorita Extraviada/Missing Young Woman (2001) My McQueen (2003) Al Más Allá (2008) Chime for Change: Girls of Ciudad Juárez (2013) State of Grace (2020)