Lourdes Portillo. Photo by Antonio Scarlata.
Renowned Mexican-American filmmaker Lourdes Portillo passed away yesterday at the age of 80. She was a pioneering Chicana director, celebrated with an Oscar nomination, renowned for her compelling filmography that stretched for over four decades. Portillo's work showcased a distinctive and unique hybrid style, blending elements of visual artistry, investigative journalism, and activism. Her body of work, was centered on Latin American, Mexican, LGBTQ, and Chicano/a experiences, as well as shedding light on critical social justice issues.
Originally from Chihuahua, Mexico, Portillo's family relocated to Los Angeles during her teenage years. Her filmmaking journey began at the age of 21, when she was invited by a friend in Hollywood to contribute to a documentary project. In the 1970s, she ventured to San Francisco to pursue studies at the San Francisco Art Institute, where she immersed herself in Chicano and avant-garde cinema, social-issue documentary filmmaking, and feminist and Latin American politics. Collaborating as the first camera assistant with Stephen Lighthill on Cine Manifest's feature Over-Under Sideways-Down in 1977 further honed her craft.
In 1979, supported by the American Film Institute Independent Filmmaker Award, Portillo co-directed her first acclaimed short film (with Nina Serrano), After the Earthquake / Después del terremoto, depicting the life of a Nicaraguan refugee in San Francisco.
A significant turning point in Portillo's career came with Las Madres: The Mothers of Plaza de Mayo, a collaborative effort with writer-director Susana Blaustein Muñoz. This 1985 documentary, the culmination of three years of work, earned a nomination for Best Documentary at the Academy Awards, an Emmy Award nomination, and garnered over twenty international awards, including a Special Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival.
Las Madres: The Mothers of Plaza de Mayo
An inspiring testament to the power of human rights activism and dissenting perseverance in contemporary times, Las Madres chronicles the bold political endeavors of the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, a collective of Argentine women who assemble weekly at Buenos Aires' Plaza de Mayo to commemorate their children who vanished during the Dirty War (1976-1983). Despite enduring persistent intimidation from the military regime, these mothers steadfastly unite in their quest for justice, serving as a national moral compass and demanding answers regarding the whereabouts of their disappeared loved ones.
In 1989, she directed the documentary La Ofrenda: The Days of the Dead, backed by PBS. This film provides an intimate exploration of the Mexican observance of the dead, delving into the sacred period when departed souls revisit the realm of the living. By tracing the tradition of the Days of the Dead from its origins in Indigenous heritage to its expression in present-day Chicano communities, the documentary reflects on the affectionate and occasionally whimsical Mexican perspectives on "death," which is viewed as a constant presence.
With support from the NEA Inter-Arts program, Portillo seized the opportunity to commemorate the 500th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's "discovery" of America in her own distinctive manner with Columbus on Trial (1992). Drawing inspiration from the controversies surrounding Columbus's legacy, Portillo presents a whimsical portrayal of a courtroom scenario, infused with satire and parody, where Columbus is brought back from the grave to face trial. The film premiered at the London and Sundance Film Festivals and was featured in the Whitney Museum Biennial.
The Devil Never Sleeps
In 1994, she directed The Devil Never Sleeps / El diablo nunca duerme, a cinematic exploration prompted by a phone call from a family member informing her of her uncle's fatal shooting in Chihuahua. Despite initial reports labeling it as suicide by his wife, Portillo harbored suspicions of murder and embarked on her investigation, receiving no assistance from law enforcement. Employing a mix of home videos, photographs, staged recollections, and telenovela excerpts, Portillo not only delves into the crime but also weaves together a poignant family narrative. The Devil Never Sleeps earned acclaim, making it onto The New Yorker's list of "Sixty-Two Films that Shaped the Art of Documentary Filmmaking" and securing a spot in the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress.
Winner of the Special Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival and selected for the prestigious Toronto and San Francisco Film Festivals, her 2001 documentary Missing Young Woman / Señorita Extraviada unfolds as a chilling examination of an ongoing enigma—the abduction, assault, and murder of more than 350 young women in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. This haunting documentary peels back the layers of complicity surrounding these heinous crimes, which persist just south of the US-Mexican border. Drawing upon what Portillo deems the most credible sources—the testimonies of the victims' families—Señorita Extraviada chronicles a two-year quest for truth in the shadows of the emerging global economy.
Other film credits include Vida (1989), Mirrors of the Heart (1993), This Is Your Day / Hoy es tu día (1995), Sometimes My Feet Go Numb (1995), Corpus: A Home Movie for Selena (1999), My McQueen (2004), Al Más Allá (2008), and more recently, the animated short film State of Grace (2020).
Missing Young Woman
Portillo was the recipient of Rockefeller Foundation Fellowships, a Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship, and multiple grants from the National Endowment for the Arts. In 2016, she was honored with the distinguished Anonymous Was A Woman Award for her career artistic achievements, and in 2017 she became the first Latina filmmaker to receive the Independent Documentary Association (IDA) Career Achievement Award.
Portillo’s films have screened at numerous cultural institutions and events around the world such as the Venice Biennale, Toronto International Film Festival, London Film Festival, the São Paulo International Film Festival, the Whitney Museum for American Art, the Guggenheim Museum, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New Directors/New Films, and the Film Society at Lincoln Center. She has been honored with over ten career retrospectives, including exhibitions at the Buenos Aires Museum of Modern Art, the Cineteca Nacional de Mexico, the Pacific Film Archive, The Museum of Modern Art New York, and Museum of Contemporary Art Buenos Aires.
In 2001, she became the subject of the critical anthology Lourdes Portillo: The Devil Never Sleeps and Other Films, edited by Rosa Linda Fregoso (University of Texas Press). Additionally, in 2023, the Academy Museum unveiled a dedicated gallery showcasing Portillo's work, which remains on view to this day.
Portillo's impact extended far beyond her artistic endeavors; she tirelessly championed diversity and inclusion in the film industry, mentoring aspiring filmmakers and amplifying underrepresented voices. As one of the few Latina women directors, she paved the way for future generations. Her legacy lives on through the multitude of lives she influenced and inspired, leaving an enduring imprint on the cinematic realm. She is survived by her three children, four siblings, five grandchildren, many loving nieces and nephews and a large, loving extended family both in the US and Mexico.
