Editor's Note:
This month we celebrate the work of Lourdes Portillo, a Chicana filmmaker who has been been making sensitive, cultural portraits for more than twenty years. Lourdes is offering her latest production about pop music star, Selena in a limited special educational release.

Special Educational Release

Corpus: A Home Movie for Selena   Get Details and Purchasing Info
Lourdes Portillo
Documentary   49 minutes   1999
With English subtitles
Tejana singer Selena was on the brink of blockbuster crossover fame when her murder at age 23 catapulted her into mainstream celebrity. Filmmaker Lourdes Portillo gazes beyond the tabloids and points a sensitive lens on the cultural sensation that emerged around Selena's life and death. A compassionate collage that features starry-eyed teenaged fans, poignantinterviews with Selena's family, and lively exchanges with Latina intellectuals who debate her value as a role model, the filmoffers a fresh look at how this unique Mexican American voice still echoes in the hearts of her fans.
Purchase Price: $ 200.00

The Other Work by Portillo

Conversation With Academics About Selena, A (a.k.a. Conversations with Intellectuals about Selena)   Get Details and Purchasing Info
Lourdes Portillo
Documentary   57 minutes   1999
With English subtitles
This film is an outrageous and lively exchangeamong leading Chicana intellectuals in this country who debate the value of her status as a role model,the film offers a fresh look at the voice and image of this uniquely enduring Mexican-American icon.
Purchase Price: $ 150.00


Devil Never Sleeps, The   Get Details and Purchasing Info
Lourdes Portillo
Documentary   82 minutes   1996
With English subtitles
The Devil Never Sleeps exposes the loves and hatreds of a Mexican family convulsed by the death of one of its members. The emotions which Portillo captures in her particular blend of traditional and experimental techniques bring out the nuances of Mexican social and family order. Poetic, tragic, humorous and mythic, this film crosses the borders of personal values, cultural mores and the discipline of filmmaking itself.
Purchase Price: $ 300.00


Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, The   Get Details and Purchasing Info
Lourdes Portillo/Susana Munoz
Documentary   64 minutes   1985
With English subtitles
This inspiring documentary tells the history of the group of mothers of the desaparecidos who organized to protest the military dictatorship's practice of "disappearing" its critics. The film shows the development of the group in response to the atrocities of the military regime, and chronicles the political awakening the mothers went through as they began to sympathize with their disappeared children's political positions. Including interviews with government officials, victims of imprisonment and torture, and the mothers themselves, this documentary shows that the group's brave activism was crucial in exposing the atrocities of the military regime, and that their organized protests helped bring down the Argentine military dictatorship.
Purchase Price: $ 250.00


Ofrenda: The Day of the Dead, La   Get Details and Purchasing Info
Lourdes Portillo/Susana Munoz
Documentary   50 minutes   1990
With English subtitles
La Ofrenda explores the traditional rituals and celebrations related to the dead in Mexico and amongst U.S. Latinos.
Purchase Price: $ 200.00


After the Earthquake   Get Details and Purchasing Info
Lourdes Portillo
feature   27 minutes   1979
With English subtitles
Follows a young Nicaraguan immigrant woman as she faces the challenges of life in the U.S. and reevaluates her relationships with her family and boyfriend.
Purchase Price: $ 150.00


Columbus on Trial   Get Details and Purchasing Info
Lourdes Portillo
fiction   18 minutes   1992
With English subtitles
A fanciful version of a courtroom trial as it might transpire in contemporary times, where Christopher Columbus has to return from his grave to take the stand. The setting is an imaginary courtroom that serves as a repository of memories and images recounting the deromanticized exploits of the famous explorer in the island of Hispaniola. Cross-examined by the Latino comedy troupe, Culture Clash, Columbus is charged with atrocities against the Native peoples of the New World, including the rape and violent treatment of women.
Purchase Price: $ 150.00

Other Featured Titles

• Discounts on LAVA's Spring Titles (May 2004)
  
• The Latin American Cities Collection (May 2004)
  
• Asian Diaspora (April 2004)
  
• New Release (April 2004)
  
• Jewish Studies (April 2004)
  
• Classic Latin American Cinema (March 2004)
  
• Women's Studies (February 2004)
  
• Satire and Symbolism (February 2004)
  
• New Releases (January 2004)
  
• Discounts on LAVA's Fall Titles (December 2003)
  
• The Vision of Manuel Antin (November 2003)
  
• Now Available on DVD (November 2003)
  
• New Documentaries (October 2003)
  
• Recent Chilean Cinema (October 2003)
  
• The Work of Daniel Burman (September 2003)
  
• Fernando Birri's 'Los inundados' (September 2003)
  
• The Overthrow of Allende (September 2003)
  
• The Sixth Section (August 2003)
  
• Fall Tour: Dispatches from Rebel Mexico (August 2003)
  
• New Documentary (May 2003)
  
• A Tribute to Fernando Birri (May 2003)
  
• Documentaries on the Arts (May 2003)
  
• Documentaries on Music (May 2003)
  
• Crisis in Argentina (April 2003)
  
• Video in the Villages (April 2003)
  
• New Releases (March 2003)
  
• New Feature Films (March 2003)
  
• The Work of Rafael Rebollar (February 2003)
  
• Mexican Documentaries (February 2003)
  
• Landscapes of Memory (February 2003)
  
• New Documentaries-January 2003 (January 2003)
  
• New Films from Colombia (November 2002)
  
• New Chilean Documentaries (October 2002)
  
• New Mexican Documentaries (October 2002)
  
• Contemporary Cuba (October 2002)
  
• New Feature Films from Argentina (September 2002)
  
• The Pinochet Case (September 2002)
  
• Revisiting Central America (May 2002)
  
• Globalization and its Discontents (April 2002)
  
• New Documentaries (April 2002)
  
• Indigenous Video from Brazil (February 2002)
  
• Documentaries from LAVA (February 2002)
  
• New Feature Films from LAVA (November 2001)
  
• New Documentaries from LAVA (October 2001)
  
• Work from Colombia and Ecuador (October 2001)
  
• New Releases from LAVA, Fall 2001 (September 2001)
  
• New Releases (May 2001)
  
• Work from Peru (April 2001)
  
• New Releases from Brazil (March 2001)
  
• THE LATIN AMERICAN VIDEO ARCHIVES (February 2001)
  
• Cuba's Independent Video Movement (November 2000)
  
• This Month's Featured Artist (November 2000)
  
• New Tiles at LAVA October, 2000 (October 2000)
  
• Featured Titles at LAVA, Fall 2000 (September 2000)
  
• New Release of Mexican Feature Films (September 2000)
  
• New Titles at LAVA - April 2000 (April 2000)
  
• New Titles at LAVA (March 2000)
  
• New Titles At LAVA (February 2000)
  
• Puerto Rico (November 1999)
  
• Exclusive Release (November 1999)
  
• Two New Titles Directed Betty Kaplan (October 1999)
  
• Eva Peron Has Arrived (October 1999)
  
• LAVA's Featured Titles for September (September 1999)
  
• Latin American Civilization (September 1999)
  
• For Teachers By Teachers (January 1999)
  
• Brazilian Indigenous Community Video (November 1998)
  
• Welcome Back (September 1998)
  
• What's New (May 1998)
  
• Films Based on Books (February 1998)
  
• MoMA Presents Thorn of the Mountain (January 1998)
  
• CUBAN FEATURE FILMS AND DOCUMENTARIES (November 1997)
  
• VIDEO BY AND ABOUT INDIGENOUS PEOPLES (October 1997)