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Lourdes Portillo Biography

Screenwriter

Lourdes Portillo is a renowned Mexican screenwriter born in 1944. Her works are known for their unique perspective and profound exploration of social issues.

Related Quotes

“I have different interests, and what happens with making a film is that you're going to live with it for a long time, so it better be something that has some staying power. I'm usually inspired by - it could be anything. In one instance, one of the things I was inspired by was something that was happening in my family - the drama that happens in a family, or an unsolvable crime, like Senorita Extraviada.”

Long Different Film Interest Crime Drama My Family Inspired

Author:Lourdes Portillo

“I received a phone call from my mother, and it was so complicated and involved, and it reminded me of just how it is in a family, and how it is in Mexico, and gossip, and all this stuff. And I thought, well, why can't a documentary be made about gossip? And in that way, I touch upon these other things - identity, cultural identity, and aesthetics.”

Mother Identity Complicated Gossip

Author:Lourdes Portillo

“My films have to do with justice and many, many other concerns. That's the sad part of coming from my generation, and having been boxed in by those words like "identity."”

Film Justice Identity Concern

Author:Lourdes Portillo

“I've done experimental work, I've done real conventional documentaries that were very successful, like Las Madres that was nominated for an Academy Award. And, from that moment on I felt like, "Okay, I can make that. Now where am I going to go?"”

Real Done Moments Successful Okay Academy Awards

Author:Lourdes Portillo

“I looked to many, many filmmakers. I was influenced by the Neo-Realists, and by the Cuban, and the Latin American cinema, the '70s, European experimental work. And fortunately, all those influences gave me the strength to think, "I can make my way. I'm a creative person, I can try to create a way that is uniquely mine because I've seen so much, and I've experienced so much."”

Thinking Trying Creative Influence My Way Filmmaker Latin Latin America Cuban

Author:Lourdes Portillo

“My McQueen particularly was hard to make, because my father was dying. I see it, and I see my confusion, my pain, my everything. I thought that it was really interesting to be able to put the people from behind the camera in front of the camera as they make it.”

People Pain Father Interesting Dying Confusion Really Interesting Mcqueen

Author:Lourdes Portillo

“I actually love actors.”

Author:Lourdes Portillo

“I'm making a kind of a memoir of certain aspects and times in my life. Now that I'm older I can look back and analyze some things, and see the root of things.”

Kind Memoir

Author:Lourdes Portillo

“Even though I make documentaries, everyone's acting in a way. Really. And you're creating, and you're confabulating things. You can't relive reality, you can just present it. And that's what I do. I have worked with actors and I like it very much, so maybe. I think that would be wonderful to do something like that, as well.”

Thinking Reality Acting Wonderful

Author:Lourdes Portillo

“I'm doing a lot of research right now on what's happening in Arizona. That's where I'm at with more conventional documentary filmmaking. I think it is an urgent cause. I think I need to make something. I'm a part of it. Everybody's a part of it, and this country needs to know what's happening there in a very truthful way.”

Thinking Country Truthful Filmmaking

Author:Lourdes Portillo

About the Author

Born: 1944
Known for: Screenwriter
Quotes: 10

Books & Sources

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