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seeking answers to the sudden tragedy. Equal parts diary film, home movie, experimental travelogue, and murder mystery, Portillo’s unclassifiable investigation of her family history and its many secrets premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 1994, and, in late 2020, was added to the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress as a film notable for its historical, cultural, and aesthetic contribution to the art form. DIRECTED/WRITTEN BY: Lourdes Portillo. WITH: Ofelia Almeida, Oscar Ruiz Almeida, Jesus de la Torre. 1994. 87 min. Mexico/USA. Color. Spanish, English. DCP. Courtesy of Harvard Film Archive.
Corpus: A Home Movie for Selena with A Conversation with Academics about Selena Sat, May 20 | 2pm | TMT Corpus: A Home Movie for Selena
La Ofrenda: The Days of the Dead
Vida with La Ofrenda: The Days of the Dead Sat, May 13 | 4pm | TMT Vida
A pointedly feminist remembrance and celebration of Tejano star Selena Quintanilla made just four years after her shocking murder, Corpus spends quality time with the singer’s friends and family, interviewing her loved ones alongside ardent fans who have traveled to visit their idol’s gravesite in Corpus Christi, Texas. The result is an uplifting portrait of a talented woman gone too soon and her legacy as imprinted on young Latinas inspired and influenced by her star power. DIRECTED BY: Lourdes Portillo. 1999. 47 min. USA. Color. English, Spanish. Digital. Courtesy of Lourdes Portillo. A Conversation with Academics about Selena Five noted feminist academics, including poet Sandra Cisneros, critic B. Ruby Rich, activist Cherríe Moraga, Chicana writer Yvonne Yarbro-Bejarano, and Corpus Christi-born professor Rosa-Linda Fregoso, gather around a cozy dinner table to discuss the lasting sociocultural impact of the famous Tejano singer. While the crux of their conversation explores music history, queer theory, and the patriarchal expectations mapped onto female stars, as the meal winds down and the margaritas are drained, the women also speak about their relationships with their mothers, allowing each of the five space to reflect, contemplate their roots, and consider the undeniable weight of destiny. DIRECTED BY: Lourdes Portillo. WITH: Sandra Cisneros, Rosa Linda Fregoso, Cherrie Moraga, B. Ruby Rich, Yvonne Yarbo-Bejarano. 1999. 58 min. USA. Color. English. Digital. Courtesy of Lourdes Portillo.
As the AIDS crisis was becoming more severe in Black and Latinx communities, the independent production company AIDSFilms in New York sought to hire content creators from these specific populations to more meaningfully target young city dwellers and educate them about contemporary safe sex practices. Using the visual language of Latin American telenovelas, Lourdes Portillo made Vida on commission for AIDSFilms, one of just six educational films made between 1987 and 1993 meant to raise awareness about the virus. DIRECTED BY: Lourdes Portillo. WRITTEN BY: Ana Maria Simo. WITH: Teresa Yenque, Iraida Polonco, Sandra Paulino. 1989. 18 min. USA. Color. Spanish. Digital. La Ofrenda: The Days of the Dead An evocative and deeply personal account of the annual Día de los Muertos holiday and its distinct traditions unfolds in both filmmaker Portillo’s native Mexico and within various Chicano neighborhoods in the United States. This luminous film that centers a celebration and remembrance of the dead also subliminally confronts the era in which it was made, when AIDS deaths within international gay communities were reaching tragic record highs. DIRECTED BY: Lourdes Portillo, Susana Muñoz. WRITTEN BY: Lourdes Portillo, Fenton Johnson, B. Ruby Rich. WITH: Carlos Baron, Rene Victor (narrators). 1989. 50 min. USA. Color. Spanish, English. Digital. Courtesy of Lourdes Portillo.
Missing Young Woman (Señorita extraviada ) Sun, May 21 | 2pm | TMT
Winner of the Special Jury Prize, Documentary at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival, this fearless record of the unsolved sexual assault and murder of over 350 women in Juárez, Mexico, stands as one of Portillo’s most empathetic, intricate works to date. Allowing the families of the victims to bear witness to her camera, Portillo also seeks to understand the apathy of local law enforcement and the ongoing epidemic of femicide in a city contending with rapid economic expansion alongside increased control by warring drug cartels. DIRECTED BY: Lourdes Portillo. 2001. 76 min. Mexico. Color. Spanish, English. 35mm. Print courtesy of University of California, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive.
The Devil Never Sleeps
The Devil Never Sleeps Sun, May 14 | 2pm | TMT When her tío Oscar Ruiz Almeida is found dead, filmmaker Lourdes Portillo grabs her camera and brings it on a homecoming to her birthplace of Chihuahua, Mexico,
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