My McQueen particularly was hard to make, because my father was dying. I see it, and I see my confusion, my pain, my everything. I thought that it was really interesting to be able to put the people from behind the camera in front of the camera as they make it.
Lourdes PortilloMy films have to do with justice and many, many other concerns. That's the sad part of coming from my generation, and having been boxed in by those words like "identity."
Lourdes PortilloEven though I make documentaries, everyone's acting in a way. Really. And you're creating, and you're confabulating things. You can't relive reality, you can just present it. And that's what I do. I have worked with actors and I like it very much, so maybe. I think that would be wonderful to do something like that, as well.
Lourdes PortilloI'm doing a lot of research right now on what's happening in Arizona. That's where I'm at with more conventional documentary filmmaking. I think it is an urgent cause. I think I need to make something. I'm a part of it. Everybody's a part of it, and this country needs to know what's happening there in a very truthful way.
Lourdes PortilloI looked to many, many filmmakers. I was influenced by the Neo-Realists, and by the Cuban, and the Latin American cinema, the '70s, European experimental work. And fortunately, all those influences gave me the strength to think, "I can make my way. I'm a creative person, I can try to create a way that is uniquely mine because I've seen so much, and I've experienced so much."
Lourdes Portillo