Director Carla Gutiérrez: One of the things that catches my interest is to continue carrying our image in the movies
The documentary film Frida (87′), debuting on Prime Video globally on Thursday, March 14, is a vision of director/editor Carla Gutiérrez (RBG, La Corona) that was possible thanks to the support of a team mostly Latino.
“Cinematography is an art form that results from teamwork. That was my vision, which could only be fulfilled with the aid and work of a team mostly Latino. It was important to infuse as much of our Latin spirit as we could into a story of such a powerful Mexican woman,” Gutiérrez told PRODU, who debuted as a feature film director with this work.
Frida is an intimate journey across the life, mind, and heart of the iconic artist Frida Kahlo, told for the first time in her own words, drawn from her famous illustrated diary, revealing letters, essays, and candid press interviews, coming graphically to life through lyrical animation inspired by her artwork.
According to Gutiérrez, the legacy of Frida for the current Women’s Month is her honesty in talking about her deepest feelings, which was difficult because these came from suffering. But reflecting them in her portraits was like a catharsis for her. “I think that is the most important legacy she has left us,” she said.
She noted that this content from Frida herself is ideal for broadcast on a global streaming platform like Prime Video. “She has been able to connect with people and become even more famous over time and distances. I think what connects her with people again is the sincerity with which she talks about her most intimate feelings, about herself, about physical suffering, about broken hearts, sometimes about envy, love, passion, desire, feelings that we all share, and expressing them through colors have taken it to the whole world,” she noted.
Gutiérrez is currently working on a couple of ideas trying to continue telling the story of Latin Americans and Latinos. “One of the things that catches my interest is to continue carrying our image in the movies.”
Frida is a production of A Time Studios Production and Imagine Documentaries Production in partnership with Storyville Films. The Executive Producers are Lynne Benioff, Alexa Conway, Meredith Kaulfers, Julie Cohen, Betsy West, Brian Grazer, and Ron Howard, and Katia Maguire, Sara Bernstein, Justin Wilkes, Loren Hammonds and Alexandra Johnes are the producers.
