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Señorita Extraviada

About the Film

Year Released:

2001

Running Time:

Documentary/Fiction:

Documentary

Synopsis:

An investigation of a series of murders of young women in a Mexican border town sustained by the presence of NAFTA factories.

http://history.sundance.org/films/2556

Poster Image:

Director

Film Director:

Lourdes Portillo

Production Info

Location:

Ciudad Juarez & Chihuahua, Mexico

Categories About the Film

Genre:

documentary

Keywords:

immigration

state violence and security

Racial/Ethnic Affiliation:

Chicano/a

Indigenous

Latin American

Latino/a

Mexican

Filmmaking Team

Writer's Name:

Olivia Crawford, Julie Mackaman, and Sharon Wood

Producer:

Lourdes Portillo

Cinematographer:

Kyle Kibbe

Exhibition/Distribution Info

Distributor:

Balcony Releasing

Box Office Earnings:

$8858

Where to find it/How to get it:

DVD widely available

Festivals/Awards:

¨ 2003 - 18th Festival International de Cine de Mar Del Plata
Buenos Aires, Argentina

¨ 2003 - Input Film Festival
Aarhus, Denmark

¨ 2003 - Encuentros Del Otro Cine Film Festival
Equador

¨ 2003 - Havana Film Festival in New York
New York City, N.Y.

¨ 2003 - International Film Festival, "Sguardi Altove"
Milan, Italy

¨ 2003 - Fribourg International Film Festival
Fribourg, Switzerland

¨ 2003 - Outfest 2003
Los Angeles, California

¨ 2003 - Adelaide Film Festival
Adelaid, Australia

¨ 2003 - Full Frame Documentary Film Festival
Durham, N. Carolina

¨ 2003 - Florida Film Festival
Maitland, Florida

¨ 2002 - 49th Sydney Film Festival
Sydney, Australia

¨ 2002 - 25th Goteborg Film Festival
Goteborg, Sweden

¨ 2002 - Le Tecniche Festival
Rome, Italy

¨ 2002 - Human Rights Watch International Film Festival
New York City, N.Y.

¨ 2002 - Festival Malaga
Malaga, Spain

¨ 2002 - WesAviv documentary Film Festival
Tel Aviv, Israel

¨ 2002 - New York International Latino Film Festival
New York City, N.Y.

¨ 2002 - 10th Barcelona International Women's Film Festival --
Barcelona, Spain

¨ 2002 - Lateinamerika -- Filmtage
Hamburg, Germany

¨ 2002 - San Diego Latino Film Festival
San Diego, CA

¨ 2002 - Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights
Warsaw, Poland

¨ 2002 - Creteil, France Festival
Creteil, France

¨ 2002 - Stanford University Center for Latin American Studies
Stanford, California

¨ 2002 - The 12th Oslo Films from the South Festival
Oslo, Norway

¨ 2002 - 2002 Boston International Festival of Women's Cinema
Boston, Massachusetts

¨ 2002 - Human Rights Watch International Film Festival
London, England

¨ 2002 - 32nd Annual USA Film Festival
Dallas, TX

¨ 2002 - Cine Festival
San Antonio, Texas

¨ 2002 - Alucine 4th Toronto Latin Festival of New Cinema and New Med
Toronto, Canada

¨ 2002 - Ajijic Film Festival
San Miguel de Allende, Mexico

¨ 2002 - Cinesol
Austin, Texas

¨ 2002 - Images Du Nouveau Monde Festival
Quebec City, Canada

¨ 2002 - Dallas Video Festival
Dallas, Texas

¨ 2002 - Viennale -- Vienna International Film Festival
Vienna, Austria

¨ 2002 - Semaine de la Critique
Lugano, Switzerland

¨ 2002 - 43rd Festival Dei Popoli
Italy

¨ 2002 - High Falls Film Festival
Washington, D.C.

¨ 2002 - Encounters Documentary Festival
Cape Town, S. Africa

¨ 2002 - 6th Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival
Los Angeles, California

¨ 2002 - Festival de Cine Iberoamericano de Huelva
Spain

¨ 2002 - 4th Thessaloniki Documentary Festival
Athens, Greece

¨ 2002 - Human Rights in Film International Film Festival
Warsaw, Poland

¨ 2002 - La Cita Festival de Biarritz
Paris, France

¨ 2002 - 17th Santa Barbara International Film Festival
Santa Barbara, CA

¨ 2002 - Films from the South Awards
Oslo Norway

¨ 2002 - AFI Fest 2002
Los Angeles, CA

¨ 2002 - 46th London Film Festival
London, England

¨ 2002 - Sundance Film Festival
Park City, Utah

¨ 2002 - Auckland Film Festival
Auckland, New Zealand

¨ 2002 - 18th Annual Chicago Latino Film Festival
Chicago, Illinois

¨ 2002 - Praga
Czech Republic

¨ 2002 - XVII Muestra de Cine Mexicano
Guadalajara, Mexico

¨ 2002 - Cinequest Film Festival

¨ 2002 - Panamerican Film Festival
Quebec, Canada

¨ 2002 - 6th Seoul Human Rights Film Festival
Seoul, South Korea

¨ 2002 - Cleveland Film Festival
Cleveland, Ohio

¨ 2002 - Calgary International Film Festival
Calgary, Canada

¨ 2002 - 5th Annual Bangkok Film Festival
Bangkok, Thailand

¨ 2001 - IDFA
Amsterdam, Netherlands

¨ 2001 - Toronto International Festival
Toronto, Canada

¨ 2001 -
venue unknown
Venecia, Italy

¨ 2001 - 49th San Sebastian International Film Festival
Spain

¨ 2001 - Febio Fest
Czech Republic

¨ PREMEIRE: 2001 - Torino Kfilm Festival
Torino, Italy

AWARDS:

2002 - Audience Award for Best Documentary
24th Festival International de Films De Femmes
Creteil, France

2002 - Best Documentary
Malaga Film Festival
Malaga, Spain

2002 - Distinguished Documentary Award
International Documentary Association
Los Angeles, California

2002 - Distinguished Documentary Achievement Award
International Documentary Association
Los Angeles, California

2002 - Women of the Year!
Ms. Magazine

2002 - FIPRESCI Award to Best Foreign Film
Thessaloniki Documentary Film Festival
Thessaloniki, Greece

2002 - Prix Tempete Radio-Canada Award for Best Feature Film 2002
Images Du Nouveau Monde
Quebec, Canada

2002 - The Nestor Almendros Human Rights Prize
Human Rights Watch New York Film Festival
New York City, N.Y.

2002 - International Premier Award
One World Media Awards
London, England

2002 - Grand Prize "Coral" for Best Documentary
Festival Internacional del Nuevo Cine Latinoamericano
Havana, Cuba

2002 - Grand Prize, Documentary
Malaga Film Festival
Malaga, Spain

2002 - Distinguished Documentary Award
International Documentary Association
Los Angeles, California

2002 - Special Jury Prize
Sundance Film Festival
Park City, Utah

2002 - Audience Award for Best Documentary
Cinequest
San Jose, California

2003 - Golden Gandhi: for Best Film
Festival Internacional De Cinema Drets Humans
Barcelona, Spain

2003 - Ariel Award, Best Mexican Documentary
Mexican Academy of Cinema Arts and Sciences
Mexico City, Mexico

2003 - Golden Gandhi Award for Best Film
Festival Internacional De Cinema Drets Humans
Barcelona, Spain

2003 - First Award to an Artist
Amnesty International
Los Angeles, California

2004 - Prix Documentaire Signis
Prize of the Press
Toulouse, France

2004 - Special Prize of the Jury
Festival de Derechos Humanos de Vitoria
Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain

http://www.lourdesportillo.com/films/films_senorita.php?category=recognitions&film=senorita

http://www.lourdesportillo.com/films/films_senorita.php?category=showings&film=senorita

http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=senoritaextraviada.htm

Links

Link to the official film website:

The Films and Videos of Lourdes Portillo: Señorita Extraviada

Links to Official trailer:

Señorita Extraviada Official Trailer

Links to interviews (written) with Director/Filmmakers:

An Interview with Lourdes Portillo by Marnie Binfield

Links to Videos of Interviews:

Filmmaker Interview: Lourdes Portillo (2010)

Link to notable film reviews:

Resisting the Violence of Values Lourdes Portillo’s Señorita Extraviada as Performative Utterance by Mónica F. Torres Department of English, New Mexico State University

Analysis

Personal Film Review and Cultural Context:

Señorita Extraviada, winner of the 2002 Sundance Film Festival Special Jury Prize, is Chicana documentary film maker, Lourdes Portillo’s, stunning documentation of a series of mysterious disappearances and subsequent murders of young female factory workers in the Mexican border town of Ciudad Juárez. Portillo has a tradition in her documentaries of fiercely pursuing justice by means of head-on confrontation with oppression—this investigative film is no exception. The documentary pulls us into this tremendously frightening reality with astounding camera work entailing long shot slow pans of the lands and deserts to which these young women are lost backed by mournful traditional funeral hymns. Portillo’s narration poetically draws together pieces of the investigation from several perspectives but especially honing in on the victims’ families’ whose voices ring out in a symphony of confusion, heartbreak and ultimately, outrage at the indifference and secretive manipulation of political authorities. Overall, Señorita Extraviada is a concretely conscious raising film, giving a voice to the grief-stricken, faces to the victims, and insight to the nescient.

Readings:

"An Interview with Lourdes Portillo." Interview by Marnie Binfield. The Velvet Light Trap 2005: 33-38.

Torres, Monica F. "Resisting the Violence of Values Lourdes Portillo’s Señorita Extraviada as Performative Utterance." The Films and Videos of Lordes Portillo. Lourdes Portillo