Think of the term "Latin art" and visions of religious iconography and elaborate graffiti might stereotypically come to mind. But documentary filmmaker Patricia Cunliffe is out to broaden that perception with her new film "A Language of Passion" which details the stories of five present-day Latino artists and has consumed much of the last four years of her life since quitting her longtime career as a film industry costume designer in 2000.
Now that it is completed, Cunliffe is debuting her own labor of passion at 7 pm on Thursday at the Latino art gallery Self Help Graphics located at 3802 Cesar E. Chavez Ave. The bilingual film will also screen July 17 at the Mexican Cultural Institute, with a question and answer panel featuring the artists and on September 18 at the Don O'Melveny Gallery in
West Los Angeles.
"People think that being a costumer is so cool, but if you are working on a low budget film, which so many of them are, sometimes you're really a glorified laundry lady who, after finishing a 12 to 16 hour workday, still has to do the laundry for the next day's shoot," said Cunliffe.
"I had designed my own couture line and choreographed my own fashion shows when I realized I had much more fun doing shows, and in a way had learned to direct. At an art party in 2000 I found that the work that struck me the most was done by Latino artists," Cunliffe said, "When I saw that they were all from someplace different I thought that I'd do a documentary."
Cunliffe (who is Latina) was further inspired by another project on a similar subject matter: a film which she saw at the Sundance Film Festival, which was to be the documentary that went with the book by leading Latino actor and film director Edward James Olmos, called "Americanos," which intended to show the diversity of Latino life in the United States. Cunliffe felt that while the film "Americanos" successfully portrayed leading government officials and luminaries like Carlos Santana, and shined a spotlight on what she terms "stereotypical" Latinos, what was still missing was the entire middle section of Latino culture.
"It had a wonderful budget which allowed them to travel across the United States and explore Latino culture, but still focused on only the higher eschelon Latinos and the group that many people see as stereotypical - like the lowrider jumping competition or people reciting poetry outside a decrepit taco house," said Cunliffe, "I was delighted to find that it did not show the type of Latino that was the subject matter for my documentary - the middle group - the educated, creative, productive element, which was just an affirmation that my documentary was necessary. I like to think that "A Language of Passion" picks up where "Americanos" left off.
Cunliffe was approached by "tons of artists" and selected a geographically and stylistically diverse array of subjects. Cecilia Miguez is a bronze sculptor from Uruguay who shows at Louis Stern Fine Arts on Melrose, Arturo Mallmann is a painter from Argentina who shows at Iturralde Gallery, Rudy Calderon is a stonecarver from Costa Rica, Eloy Torrez is a muralist from New Mexico and Vibiana Aparicio Chamberlin, a printmaker and installation artist, is originally from East Los Angeles.
In addition to detailing their personal stories, the film features artists' candid commentary about issues that arise in connection with their culture and assimilation into Mainstream American society. Ultimately, they address how they view them selves as part of today's Ametrican culture.
Cunliffe followed the artists over a three year period in order to give them time to take their projects through various stages, as well as the ongoing transformations in their lives. The fact thjat she could speak Spanish was helpful in approaching her subjects but, because she can only speak the language rather than read and write it, had to rely on someone else to translate the Spanish subtitles of the bilingual film.
"It's probably 85 percent English with Spanish subtitles and 15 percent Spanish with English subtitles because I wanted people to speak to me in the language that was most comfortable for them," siad Cunliffe, "I can see that there really are differences in Latino culture and want to edicate people that just because a person is of Latino background does not mean that they will paint only colorful religious iconography or sing songs in Spanish. The music in the movie consists of harps, rock, rap, mariachi and world music."
Now that she's done with the actual production of thje film, the even harder work of selling the film begins. The three LA-area screenings were garnered off of the first four tapes she handed out, however, so Cunliffe feels that people are responding strongly to the material. She intends to submit to film festivals, has just designed a poster and is in the midst of updating the films Web site.
"If there is anything to be learned in this film is that there really is no label for art or for people. I also did a man-on-the-street segment and asked, 'What's the first ting thatcomes to your mind when you hear the term Latino art?' One kid asked me if that meant that the art was done by Latino artists or if it has a Latino look to it," said Cunliffe.
"And I thought, 'My God, that sums up my movie right there.' I will tell you right now, the movie doesn't answer it either. It presents the information and let's you make the conclusion."