About Latine
The Portland Film Festival's Indie Film Series is proud to present two films centering Latine voices: Esperanza's Turn, a short drama about a 12-year-old immigrant farmer, and feature film Street Heroines, a documentary about female graffiti and street artists.
About the films:
Short: Esperanza's Turn • Director: Melissa Gregory Rue
A 12-year-old immigrant farm worker taps into her imagination to confront a bully at school.
Feature film: Street Heroines • Director: Alexandra Henry
Street Heroines is an award-winning feature-length documentary celebrating the courage and creativity of women who despite their lack of recognition have been an integral part of the graffiti and street art movement since the beginning. Authentic vérité storytelling woven between an interview-driven narrative, Street Heroines juxtaposes the personal experiences of three emerging Latina artists from New York City, Mexico City, and São Paulo as they navigate a male-dominated subculture to establish artistic identities within chaotic urban landscapes.
Punctuated by historical anecdotes from pioneering artists Lady Pink, Claw Money, Nina Pandolfo, Swoon, Lady Aiko, iconic graffiti photographer Martha Cooper, and others, Street Heroines is the first-of-its-kind documentary to capture the collective outcry of female street artists from around the world, shining a light on their mission for creative expression and their endeavors to overcome sexism through art.
While numerous graffiti genre documentaries feature familiar names such as Banksy and Shepard Fairey, Street Heroines infiltrates this masculine space by legitimizing women's voices within an unquestionably important movement that symbolizes far more than the sum of its parts. Now, in the wake of #MeToo and Time's Up, which have had astounding repercussions for women's justice, there is no time more relevant for a film that exposes the struggles of female artists worldwide and situates them within the global conversation.
A bastion of female empowerment, Street Heroines gives visibility to fearless artists who create their own opportunities in the name of women's rights, gender, and economic equality, increased accessibility to the arts, and the celebration of cultural identity.
