Five Major Influences For Aurora Guerrero
2006 Tribeca All Access alum Aurora Guerrero's Tribeca All Access alum Aurora Guerrero's Tribeca All Access alum Aurora Guerrero's alum Aurora Guerrero's Mosquita y Mari makes its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival tonight. The film, a Huntington Park, Los Angeles-set coming of age drama and love story that follows two young Chicanas who struggle to find their place in today's world, is Guerrero's feature debut. She makes its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival tonight. The film, a Huntington Park, Los Angeles-set coming of age drama and love story that follows two young Chicanas who struggle to find their place in today's world, is Guerrero's feature debut. She shared five of her biggest influences as a filmmaker with us on the eve of Mosquita y Mari's first public screening.
1. I have been inspired by queer, women of color feminist writers, in particular Cherríe Moraga and Gloria Anzaldúa. They have paved the way for many artists with their writing and thinking and I feel that I am a product of their legacy. They interrupted the silence that I was living in as a freshman in college. It was like the risks they took by telling their stories and exposing themselves as queer Xicanas gave me the courage to be myself in public and especially at home with my family. Their writing is fierce and I just want to be a fraction of their fierceness! So whatever I do as an artist is a reflection of the impact they had on my life.
2. I absolutely LOVE Pedro Almodóvar. All his movies, especially his older ones, have always made me feel like he is a filmmaker telling the stories he wants to tell. He's made a career for himself for being true to his voice. And I've especially been inspired by the evolution of his body of work. You see his growth as a filmmaker and I think that I want that for myself. I want to always grow, you know. With every film I make I want audiences to walk away hoping they'll see another film from me just to see how I will evolve as an artist.
3. Lucrecia Martel. I looked at all her films while writing Mosquita y Mari for a couple of reasons. I really wanted to challenge myself to capture the internal world of these girls without being so literal and it was important for me to create a sense of place for my audience. Whenever I watch a Martel film I know that I'm in for an all sensory ride and I love it. She's a wizard at capturing tension through her visuals and score/sound. She's a master at creating a very palatable sense of place. I wish she taught film somewhere -- I would so take her class!
4. Jim Mckay is a brilliant filmmaker and one of my biggest mentors. His first film Our Song is my favorite of his films. I feel like he was one of the first filmmakers to allow story to flow as organically as possible without pushing those dramatic formulas. He's about keeping it real in his work as a writer/director and in turn I have gained so much from his work and from our many conversations throughout the making of Mosquita y Mari. I feel so blessed to have this guy in my corner!
5. My peers. My generation of filmmakers. The work of Dee Rees, Alex Rivera, Sterlin Harjo and Maryam Keshavarz, to name a few. So much good, strong work that is being produced in ways that are ground-breaking and inspirational. Every triumph they've had has fueled me to keep going.
