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- The 2025 Oscar shortlist for best documentary film includes "Frida" by Carla Gutiérrez
The 2025 Oscar shortlist for best documentary film includes "Frida" by Carla Gutiérrez
13 January 2025
The ground-breaking film is praised for being the first documentary to tell the story entirely in Frida Kahlo's own words.
Kahlo's letters on feminism, politics, and men are featured by director Carla Gutierrez and her team, and Fernanda Echevarría Del Rivero provides the voiceover for her own diary entries. The famous paintings by the artist are brought to life through animation.
Kahlo's great-niece, 64-year-old artist Cristina Kahlo, is one of Frida's acknowledged advisors. She has 35 years of experience as a photographer and has captured a wide range of subjects, including children with disabilities, danzón dancer communities, and Mexican cultural institutions.
Cristina Kahlo is named after the sister of Frida Kahlo, who infamously posed for the paintings of Frida's husband, the artist Diego Rivera, and had an affair with him. Cristina, the photographer, has not let the affair affect her work. She actually once worked with the grandson of Diego Rivera.
Later in life, she conducted most of her research on Frida, and when she's not behind the camera, she's interviewing and curating exhibits about her great-aunt.
She discusses myths and misconceptions about Frida, what it's like to work under the Kahlo name, and her thoughts on Frida's legacy in the conversation with the Time's journalist Olivia B. Waxman available at the link below.
