Fridais not just a documentary about the art and life of Frida Kahlo.
DirectorCarla Gutierrezwanted to use the tools of the format to capture Kahlos emotions.
Those tools included narration, archival material, score and the creative touch of animating Kahlos paintings.
Youre seeing her eyes looking at us in her paintings, Gutierrez said.
We wanted the audience to also look at her universe through her eyes.
A lot of those accidents, unfortunately, happened in Mexico City.
So we found some really gruesome images of what happened after those accidents.
Kahlo speaks in the film too, via the voice of Fernanda Echevarria, in Spanish with English subtitles.
The performance captures Kahlos personality in her native language.
you’re free to hear Frida swearing at people and making fun of people, Gutierrez said.
Gutierrez said Kahlo was politically active and popular socially.
Her paintings were where Kahlo expressed vulnerability, often as her own subject.
She painted herself and her heartaches, her daily questioning of her own feelings, Gutierrez said.
That goes for the painting that initially turned Gutierrez on to Kahlos work decades ago.
The Peruvian filmmaker related to Kahlos complicated feelings about America.
Its her standing between the United States and Mexico, Gutierrez said.
She didnt always feel welcome here and was missing her country a lot.
And thats exactly how I felt as a new immigrant.
Check out the panel video above.
