Sylvia Morales | |
|---|---|
.png) Sylvia Morales self portrait in 1998 Los Angeles, California. | |
| Born | Phoenix, Arizona, United States |
| Education | University of California, Los Angeles (BA and MFA) |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1971–present |
Sylvia Morales (born 1943 inPhoenix, Arizona) is an American film director, writer, producer, and editor.[1] Morales is recognized as one of the first femaleMexican-American filmmakers.[2] Morales has won multiple awards for her documentaries, which portray various aspects of Hispanic American society and culture, including the farm workers struggle,Chicana feminism, and the music ofLos Lobos.[1]
While the majority of her work is in the documentary film genre, Morales has also done work for television. In addition, she has published essays and photographs on Latina and feminist issues.[2] She has lectured and taught at universities throughout Southern California.
Morales was born in Phoenix, Arizona but was raised inSouthern California.[2] Morales studied at theUniversity of California, Los Angeles where she received her Bachelor of Arts in 1972. She then went on to receive herMaster of Fine Arts in 1979 in film with an emphasis in motion picture production.[3]
In the 1970s, theChicana Feminist Movement was founded to address the specific needs of Chicanas aswomen of color in the United States. Morales was one of the first artists to write and produce works in which Chicanas were given a proper name, voice, and image.[4] As mentioned by Jenny Dean, Chicanisma is a concept that gives a sense ofsisterhood in feminist discourse. Chicanisma emerged to confront the tripleoppression ofrace, class, andgender within the Latino community. The book,Latina Filmmakers and Writers examine the works of seven celebrated Latinas who collectively represent a 20-year history of Chicanisma and one of those listed in the book is Sylvia Morales.[4]
Morales first became active in film and television around 1971 when she started working for Channel 7ABC, Los Angeles in a program calledUnidos which was about the Chicano community in Los Angeles.[5] Jose Luis Ruiz who was the producer of the program was in need of a new camera operator since the person who he had hired for the job decided to quit the night before the shoot. Jose contacted Morales and gave her the opportunity to be a part of the technical crew since they had known each other at theUniversity of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where he had become aware of Morales' camera work. She accepted the offer and became the camera person for the program. During her time atABC, she did thirteen half-hour documentaries. Afterwards, she began her career as a producer, director, author and editor.[6]
Recommended...The film does a fine job of combining social history and biography, providing a glimpse of an important social justice movement, along with some of the significant individuals who carried it forward
For the Film A Crushing Love A Film by Sylvia Morales
Morales has directed, written, produced and edited award winning and nationally recognized film and video work for the last 30 years in which she moved from the margins tomainstream media.[6] Emerging out of the late-1960s and 1970s political milieu, Sylvia Morales along with other early Latino activist filmmakers which includeMoctesuma Esparza, Jesus Salvador Treviño, Susan Racho, andLuis Valdez became involved withcivil rights activism.[8] Some were also among the first Latinos to be able to enterfilm schools and receive formal training. According toOrigins of Chicano and Latino Cinema, activists were fighting for a more positive representation of Latinos in mass media.[9]
Morales first emerged withChicana (1979), a film that traces the history of the Mexican indigenous woman frompre-Columbian time to the present.[10] This film established Morales as one of the firstChicana filmmakers in the nation. This film highlighted and celebrated theMexican-American culture andidentity. Other films that Morales has done areLove and Long Distance (1985),Hearts on Fire (1987),SIDA Is AIDS (1989),Real Men and Other Miracles (1999) and her latest productionA Crushing Love (2009).[11] Her most important work according to Osa Hidaldo de la Riva would be in broadcasting television since the media allows Morales to reach a much larger audience.[6]
In television, Morales has worked forShowtime,PBS andTurner Broadcasting.[1] When she worked for Showtime, she directed episodes from the three seasons of Showtime's seriesResurrection Blvd, which allowed her to work with actorsElizabeth Peña,Louis Gossett Jr., Michael De Lorenzo andEsai Morales.[12] She also worked on the Showtime seriesWomen: Stories of Passion.[12] She worked onerotic fiction forShowtime'sWomen: Stories of Passion:La Limpia (The Cleansing, 1996) (in which she worked withMaría Conchita Alonso) andAngel From the Sky (1997).[6] Sylvia Morales also worked for PBS, in which she was the LatinoConsortium atKCET in Los Angeles from 1981 to 1985. She was in charge of theproduction,programming and distribution of the programs that aired on PBS.[1] During her time at PBS, Morales hosted the Latino Consortium's weekly national series,Presente. Along with that, Morales was one of the writing and producing teams for the award-winning seriesChicano! The Mexican Civil Rights Movement for PBS, in which She producedStruggle in the Fields (1996), a 60-minute documentary that was part of the four-hour series. She also wrote and produced the half-hour documentaryTell me again...What is Love? (1998) which talks about teen-dating violence.[1] Sylvia Morales also worked atTurner Broadcasting in the seriesA Century of Women, which focused on 20th century U.S. women. Her piece wasWork and Family (1994), a two -hour documentary in the six-hour series.A Century of Women was nominated forACE and anEmmy.[6]
Besides making films and videos, Morales has published several written works, including "Chicano Produced Celluloid Mujeres", an article for theBilingual Review exploring the portrayal of Latino women by Chicano filmmakers (1985).[1] Her photographs are also featured in the health bookA New View of a Woman's Body (1981).[12] Morales also wrote a book titledSara/ Teleplay in 1981.[13] Another book that she wrote isChildren With Autism : The Roles and Coping Strategies of Latino Families in 2010, which is a considered a thesis.[14] She has directed, produced, written and has taught film and video production atCalifornia State University, Los Angeles and at theUniversity of Southern California'sSchool of Cinematic Arts.[6] She is currently anassociate professor in the School of Film/Television atLoyola Marymount University.[12]
Morales has two children. She has spoken of her difficulties juggling her creative work and parenting, saying she feels torn between her children and her career. She admitted to feeling guilty over not spending enough time with her children. Her daughter is featured in her 2009 filmA Crushing Love.[5]
Morales uses reenacted scenes with voice-overs from traditional on-camera interviews for some of her documentaries, such asChicana. She uses Chicanodocudrama to recreate historic events. Morales, like many other Chicano filmmakers take on projects with little or no funding, she often uses her own money to complete her productions. Morales has usedmurals to figure out the history that is not well depicted for her work.[15] Sylvia Morales has many ways in which to approach the way in which she acquires funding for her productions. One way she mentions in her interview is by creating grant proposals or fundraising to obtain funding for the projects.[5]
Morales' work has been shown infilm festivals, universities, and in community gatherings throughout the U.S., Mexico, South America, Spain and France.[12] In many of her screenings she has been a guest speaker in which she allows for dialogue about the film and about her life.
Locations:
-UCSC El Centro
-CineFestival en San Antonio[citation needed]
-Boyle Heights Latina Independent Film Extravaganza[citation needed]
-The California Aggie in Davis[16]
-OC Film Fiesta in Santa Ana[17]
-UC Berkeley's Multicultural Center[18]
-Oberlin College Multicultural Resource Center[19]
-Reel Rasquache Film Festival[20]
-Echo Park Film Center[21]
There are many more locations in which her documentaries have been shown.
Sylvia Morales' next project will be Chicana II or Mestiza which looks at the women:mestiza, chicana, exploring thefeministevolution within the mestiza that begins in the late 60's to thenew millennium.[6] She mentions in her interview with Osa Hidalgo de la Riva that the documentary might take a long time to get done since she has a variety of respsibilities as a professor and mother. She also faces other complications that may delay the production which is the lack of funding since she is mainstream and not in the industry, as well as the research has to be all done by her. She did mention in her interview that she is putting together aresearch proposal so she can acquire the funds to hire people to help her complete her project.[6]
Sylvia Morales, along with Jean Victor released the documentaryFaith Even to The Fire in 1993. This landmark documentary is the first to demonstrate contemporary U.S. nuns living out a mission ofsocial justice, even when it brings them into conflict with theCatholic church. It follows the stories of three nuns: Rosa Martha Zarate, Judy Vaughan and Marie de Pores Taylor. The sisters speak out about racism,sexism andclassism within the church. The sisters also mention in the film what they've done and still do to combat it. Since theses -isms affect the people they serve.[22] In the words of Maxwell Anderson's Joan of Arc, they keep their faith " ... even to the fire."[23]
Morales's documentaryChicana was released in 1979. The film depicts back topre-Columbian to present times, where it illustrates the women's role starting with theAztec society till present day where she shows that Chicanas have become an active part in Mexico and the United States.[24] Linda Gross from Los Angeles Times, describesChicana as "A well-researched and spirited documentary made with much love."[25]
Sylvia Morales' sequelA Crushing Love: Chicanas, Motherhood and Activism was released in 2009. Her film honors the work of five activist Latinas,Dolores Huerta,Elizabeth Martínez,Cherríe Moraga, Alicia Escalante, andMartha P. Cotera. All the female activist portrayed in the film explore their struggles as mothers,Chicanas, and Activist. According to Prof. of Television, Film & Media Studies atCSU Los Angeles, John Ramirez states:“Morales comes full circle to an unprecedented chronicle of the rich history of US Latina women’s leadership, strength and struggle in the workplace, the family, community, society, the world.”[7]
| Year | Film | Genre | director | Producer | screenWriter | Actor | Other | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1973 | The Serpents of the Pirate Moon | Drama | Yes | |||||
| 1979 | Chicana | Historic | Yes | |||||
| 1982 | Seguin | Historical | Yes | Script Supervisor | ||||
| 1985 | Love, Long Distance | Comedy | Yes | |||||
| 1986 | Interview with Ricardo Montalban | Interview | Yes | |||||
| 1987 | Hearts on Fire | Drama | Yes | Yes | Screen Writer | |||
| 1989 | SIDA Is AIDS | Yes | Yes | |||||
| 1991 | Esperanza | Drama | Yes | Yes | ||||
| 1993 | Faith Even to the Fire | Documentary | Yes | Yes | Yes | Narrator, editor | ||
| U.S./Mexico border crossings; The Electronic arrow : how Indians use video | Documentary, Drama, Historical | Yes | Yes | |||||
| 1994 | A Century of Women: Work and Family | Documentary, Drama, Historical | Yes | |||||
| A Century of Women: Image and Popular Culture | Documentary, Drama, Historical | Yes | ||||||
| A Century of Women: Sexuality and Social Justice | Documentary, Drama, Historical | Yes | ||||||
| 1995 | The Bronze Screen: 100 Years of the Latino Image in Hollywood (film) | Documentary | Yes | Interviewee | ||||
| 1996 | Chicano! History of the Mexican-American Civil Rights Movement | Documentary, History | Yes | Segment producer | ||||
| 1999 | Real Men and Other Miracles | Drama | Yes | Yes | Screen Writer | |||
| 2001–2002 | Resurrection Blvd. | Drama | Yes | 6 Episodes | ||||
| 2009 | A Crushing Love: Chicanas, Motherhood and Activism | Documentary | Yes | Yes | Narrator |
Sylvia Morales has been the recipient of the prestigious Rockefeller Fellowship Award in media.(WMM) Sylvia has also been participant in the American Film Institute's Directing Workshop for Women.[12] She has been honored as a Fellow from theNational Endowment of the Arts.[1][12] Morales has also been awarded with the VESTA Award which honors outstanding contributions of Southern California women to the arts. She has also been honored with a Salute to Latinas Award for distinguished work in her field from the city of Los Angeles. She has also been honored by Comision Femenil Mexicana Nacional's 20th Anniversary celebration for Latinas in Film and Television. Last but not least Sylvia was awarded with USC Latina/o Cinema Society Woman Filmmaker award.[1][12]
In 2021, "Chicana" was selected for preservation in the United StatesNational Film Registry by theLibrary of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".[26]
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