Lourdes Portillo at MOMA
Written by Nikki Erlick
“Now that I’m older it really makes me feel bad that I made this film,” laughs award-winning filmmaker Lourdes Portillo on her radical portrayal of her family’s tragedy in El Diablo Nunca Duerme (The Devil Never Sleeps). The film was shown Saturday night, along with a heartbreaking and poetic insight on the quality of AIDS medical care in Sometimes My Feet Go Numb, as part of the Museum of Modern Art’s current film exhibition Lourdes Portillo: La Cineasta Inquisitiva. The MoMA collaborated with the non-profit Women Make Movies to honor Lourdes Portillo’s impact on film, as part of WMM’s 40th anniversary series.
The Devil Never Sleeps followed Portillo’s return to her native Chihuahua, Mexico to investigate the suspicious death of her uncle Oscar. The documentary combined interviews with Portillo’s relatives and personal home videos to capture the essence of a family struggling with the mystery and rampant gossip surrounding a loved one’s death. Portillo noted in an interview after the screening that she enjoys “breaking the rules” and adopting a unique style for each of her films. Her innovation was evident in The Devil Never Sleeps in her use of striking film techniques and weaving of telenovela scenes into her own family drama. The documentary becomes more than a personal investigation, depicting the stringent familial and social mores facing the residents of Chihuahua.
Fellow director Natalia Almada interviewed Portillo, whose advice to young filmmakers is that catering to a specific audience stops you from being bold – something that Portillo has never allowed to happen. The exhibition, which runs through June 30, showcases both Portillo’s daring documentaries and humble sense of humor. It is clear she has established a legacy for female and Latino filmmakers alike.
(Pictured: WMM Filmmaker Natalia Almada moderates the Q&A with Lourdes Portillo at the MoMA as part of the week-long retrospective: “Lourdes Portillo: La Cineasta Inquisitiva.” ©2012Robert Herman)
