film
FAMILYPORTRAIT Married Mexican painters Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo stand together with apet dog infront ofthatched-roof hut which houses anumber ofarcheological artifacts in Mexico City , Mexico inthe 1940s .
Crafting her debut film meant intensive research by Gutierrez . She did so by seeking out transcripts and other writing as well as film elements from various sources , including Kahlo biographer Hayden Herrera and Stanford University ’ s Hoover Institution Library and Archives .
Gutierrez , 48 , isaveteran documentary editor whose credits include the 2018 Oscar-nominated documentary RBG , about Supreme Court Justice
Ruth Bader Ginsberg , and the 2021 documentary Julia , about the famed chef and TVpersonality Julia Child . She also co-edited Frida with David Teague .
Gutierrez , in an interview with NorthJersey . com , said seeing her first film asadirector come to fruition has been “ amazing ,” since she created a visual work about not just an artistic icon but also aLatina role model .
“ AsaLatina woman , it ’ sbeen extra-special for me because the film is very much about Frida Kahlo , but it ’ s also alove letter to the universe that created her , which is Mexico and Latin America ,” says Gutierrez , anative ofPeru .
FIRSTTIMEWITHFRIDA
Her interest in the subject of her debut work stemmed from achance encounter nearly 30years ago .
Gutierrez was asophomore sitting in the library at Williams College in Massachusetts passing the time and looking through art books when she came across apainting that stayed in her memory .
The work that captured Gutierrez ’ s attention was “ Self-Portrait on the Border of Mexico and the United States .” The subject in the 1932 painting was its creator : Frida Kahlo , who died in1954 atthe age of47 .
“ I saw her painting of the borderline where she ’ sstanding inbetween the United States and Mexico . And she had some strong feelings about being in the United States , didn ’ t always feel at home ,” Gutierrez says . “ She really didn ’ t feel at home here and was missing Mexico .”
DOCUMENTARY HAS MONTCLAIRROOTS
When Gutierrez was interviewed for this story , she was leaving California , where Frida was screened atthe San Diego Latino Film Festival and was on her way to Copenhagen , Denmark , where her film was shown atthe Copenhagen Documentary Film Festival .
But when she ’ s not on the road , Montclair ishome , as it has been for the past 13years . Itiswhere she raises her two teenage sons , one ajunior at Montclair High School and the other amiddle school student . And it is a special place for her latest work , which had apublic screening atMontclair State University inMarch .
“ We actually played atThe Clairidge , where we had aQ & A , and it was there for aweek , which was very special ,” Gutierrez says ofthe theater on Bloomfield Avenue . “ That ’ swhere Ilive , and that ’ swhere alot of the documentary was actually made and put together .” n
HULTON ARCHIVE / GETTYIMAGES
18 MAY 2024 MONTCLAIR MAGAZINE