Aurora Guerrero
Aurora Guerrero | |
---|---|
Born | San Francisco, California, U.S. |
Alma mater | |
Occupation(s) | activist |
Aurora Guerrero is a writer-director from California.[1]
Early life
Guerrero was born in the
Career
Early in her career, she co-founded Womyn Image Makers (WIM) along with Dalila Mendez, Maritza Alvarez and Claudia Mercado. As WIM, in 2005, she directed the short film Pura Lengua, which debuted at the
In 2012, Guerrero made her feature film debut at the Sundance Film Festival with Mosquita y Mari, becoming the first Chicana filmmaker to debut a feature-length film who was also previously a Sundance Institute and Ford Foundation Fellow.
In an interview in 2012 at the Torino LGBTQI Film Festival, Guerrero stated that she felt connected to the story in Mosquita y Mari because she “wanted to stay true to her own coming of age experience of exploring her identity. I feel at that age you’re a little more open to life and the people around you end up impacting you because of your openness. These early years are markers of who you will become later on. That is very true of my life and I feel like my friendships, and that friendship in particular that inspired this movie, was the beginnings of my queer identity.” [11]
In 2014, Guerrero announced her next project, Los Valientes, about a young undocumented
Most of Guerrero's film work has been centered around California, especially the San Francisco Bay Area where she grew up. Her first work not centered in California was the episode of Queen Sugar she directed, centered in Louisiana.[13]
In 2017, Guerrero directed the Ava DuVernay produced Queen Sugar episode "What Do I Care for Morning" which aired as episode three in season two. DuVernay chose Guerrero for the directorial position because of her work Mosquita y Mari. Based on this film, DuVernay felt confident enough that Guerrero could focus on the power of intimacy, especially for Queen Sugar, a show that focuses so much on family, betrayal and injustice. Prior to directing episode three of season two of Queen Sugar, Guerrero had no idea what episode or what she was going to be directing specifically. Exploring the flirtation, tension, and budding romance of this episode is one of her strengths, and it was a perfect directorial fit for her.[13]
DuVernay later recommended Guerrero to Lin-Manuel Miranda to direct the music video for Andra Day's cover of "Burn" from The Hamilton Mixtape.[14]
Influences
In a blog post that she wrote on the
In an interview with El Tecolote on April 26, 2012, Guerrero stressed the importance of “opening doors to Latinos, especially women and youth, behind the camera in order to help build a community of Latina/o artists,” something she didn't have when she was a girl.[16] She also stresses the importance of activity in politics and cultural activism.[3]
Awards and nominations
Year | Award | Category | Nominated work | Result | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2005 | HBO/New York International Latino Film Festival (NYILFF) | Short Script Competition | Viernes Girl | Won | |
2012 | Outfest | Best First Narrative Feature | Mosquita y Mari | Won | |
Festival Las Americas, Chicago | Best Narrative Feature | Won | |||
Cinefestival | Best Narrative Feature | Won | |||
Santa Fe Independent Film Festival | Best Screenplay | Won | |||
Torino International LGBT Film Festival | Queer Award | Won | |||
Pink Film Festival Zurich | Audience Award | Won | |||
Long Beach QFilm Festival | Best Director – Feature Film | Won | [17] | ||
Global Can Award | William & Mary Film Festival | Won | |||
Time Warner/Sundance Storytelling Fellow | Native American & Indigenous Film Program | Won | [18] | ||
2013 | John Cassavetes Spirit Award | (?) | Nominated | ||
John Cassavetes Spirit Award | Best First Screenplay | Won | |||
2020 | Imagen Award | Best Director – Television | Little America | Nominated | [19] |
Filmography
YEAR | FILM | CREDITED AS |
2021 | Blindspotting (TV series) | Director |
2021 | Mr. Corman (TV series) | Director |
2018 | Los Valientes | Director & Writer |
2018 | Greenleaf (TV series) | Director |
2018 | Andra Day: Burn (short) | Writer/Director |
2018 | Caracol Cruzando (short) | Story Editor |
2017 | Queen Sugar (TV series) | Director |
2013 | The 2013 Film Independent Spirit Awards | Herself |
2012 | Mosquita y Mari | Director & Writer |
2009 | La Mission | Assistant to Director |
2008 | Pandora’s (short) | Director, Writer & Co-Producer |
2008 | El Primo (short) | Special Thanks |
2005 | Viernes Girl (short) | Director & Writer |
2005 | Pura Lengua (short) | Director |
2002 | Real Women Have Curves | Assistant to Ms. Cardoso |
2002 | sIDney (short) | Special Thanks |
See also
- List of female film and television directors
- List of lesbian filmmakers
- List of LGBT-related films directed by women
References
- ^ Fuchs, Ellise. "Most of Us Don't Need to Put Labels on It: An Interview with Aurora Guerrero". PopMatters. Retrieved 2012-12-06.
- Filmmaker Magazine. 2006. Archived from the originalon 2012-03-29. Retrieved 2012-01-15.
- ^ a b c d e "Aurora Guerrero Bio". Conscious Films. 2014. Retrieved 2018-11-11.
- ^ "HBO and the New York International Latino Film Festival Announce Winner of Latino Filmmaker Competition". prnewswire.com. 2005. Retrieved 2012-01-16.
- Indie Wire. 2012-01-15. Retrieved 2012-01-16.
- CalArts. 2011-12-15. Archived from the originalon 2013-03-15. Retrieved 2012-01-16.
- ^ Scott, Michael (21 March 2013). "MQFF REVIEW: Mosquita y Mari (2012, Dir. Aurora Guerrero)". Retrieved 23 November 2018.
- ^ "Film Preview: "Mosquita y Mari" by Aurora Guerrero". xQsi Magazine. 2011-05-20. Archived from the original on 2014-10-06. Retrieved 2012-01-14.
- ^ Lerner, Gabriel (2011). "'Mosquita y Mari' is about us". hispanicla.com. Archived from the original on 2012-06-02. Retrieved 2012-05-13.
- ^ Agrawal, Nina (Summer 2012). "Arts Innovator: Aurora Guerrero, U.S./Mexico". Americas Quarterly. Retrieved 2018-11-11.
- ^ "Tglff2012: Aurora Guerrero". YouTube. April 22, 2012. Retrieved 2018-11-12.
- ^ Lavallee, Eric (July 23, 2014). "2014 Independent Film Week Includes Latest From Barry Jenkins, Alistair Banks Griffin, Passon, Frammartino & Landes". Retrieved 30 October 2014.
- ^ a b Mejia, Paula (2017). "Ava DuVernay Only Wanted Female Directors for 'Queen Sugar,' Aurora Guerrero Stepped Up". Remezcla. Retrieved 2018-11-11.
- ^ Holub, Christian (August 29, 2018). "Andra Day's 'Burn' music video gives Hamilton ballad a contemporary twist". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved August 31, 2018.
- ^ "Kick It: Aurora Guerrero Finds Strength in Relationships". Sundance Institute Blog. 2011-08-28. Archived from the original on 2011-05-11. Retrieved 2012-01-13.
- ^ "Local Latina filmmaker tells community stories". El Tecolote.org. 2012-04-26. Archived from the original on April 14, 2013. Retrieved 2012-05-13.
- ^ Clent Bowers, H. (September 7, 2012). "Film: 2012 Long Beach QFilm Festival". THE ARTISTS FORUM MAGAZINE. Retrieved November 24, 2023.
- ^ "Seven Sundance Institute/Time Warner Foundation Fellows Selected for 2012". Sundance Institute. August 8, 2020. Retrieved November 24, 2023.
- ^ Lee, Janet W. (August 8, 2020). "2020 Imagen Awards Nominations: Dora and the Lost City of Gold, I Carry You With Me and More". Variety. Archived from the original on May 2, 2022. Retrieved April 7, 2022.
Further reading
- Agrawal, Nina. “Arts Innovator: Aurora Guerrero, U.S./Mexico.” Americas Quarterly. Retrieved 2018-11-11.
- Conscious Films. “Aurora Guerrero Bio.” Wixsite. Retrieved 2018-11-11.
- Guerrero, Aurora. “Tglff2012: Aurora Guerrero.” YouTube. Retrieved 2018-11-12.
- Mejia, Paula. “Ava DuVernay Only Wanted Female Directors for ‘Queen Sugar,’ Aurora Guerrero Stepped Up.” Remezcla. Retrieved 2018-11-11.
External links
- Aurora Guerrero Interview on YouTube
- Aurora Guerrero at IMDb
- 2012 Aurora Guerrero interview indiewire.com