Female Agency in Films Made by Latin American Women

At a time of growing relevance for women's social and cultural movements in the Americas, Female Agency in Films Made by Latin American Women examines how the increased prominence of women in a directorial role translates into new paradigms of female agency in Latin American filmmaking. This volume bridges the two main tendencies that have characterized gender-studies approaches to the region's cinema to date: first, the survey-based analysis of films made by women and second, the study of how female characters are treated on the screenby female and male directors. Bringing together both scholarly trends, this volume explores the complex modalities of female agency developed in recent films directed by women in Latin America, through innovative aesthetic and discursive strategies. Moving beyond consideration of visibility or representation, a diverse body of contributors in this book look for expressions of agency in the films' gaze, their affective depth, the forms of care they bring to the fore, how they highlight their characters' desires and subjectivities, and the bodily and sensorial experiences they convey.

A comprehensive look at agency among contemporary women filmmakers in Latin America Examines the shifting agency of women both in a directorial role and on the screen in Latin American films Includes lesser-studied national film industries such as Puerto Rico, Costa Rica, and Paraguay

Auteur

María Helena Rueda is a Professor of Spanish and Latin American Studies at Smith College, USA. Her publications focus on contemporary Latin American literature and film, particularly from Colombia, Chile, and Peru.

Vania Barraza is a Professor of Spanish at the University of Memphis, USA. Her publications focus on the literature and culture of Latin America, particularly Chile, with an emphasis on film, gender, and sexuality studies.

Contenu

Chapter 1: Introduction: Female Agency in Latin American Films: Women Autonomy and Empowerment Over the Patriarchal Gaze.- Part One: Agency, Perception, and the Female Gaze.- Chapter 2: Perturbed Genders in Lucrecia Martel.- Chapter 3: Memory, Disability and Space in Mafifa (Daniela Muñoz Barroso 2021).- Chapter 4: Intimate Documentaries Made by Women in Colombia: Beyond the Patriarchal Gaze.- Part Two: Queering the Gaze: Politics, Sexualities, and Female Desire.- Chapter 5: A Journey with an Expiration Date: Notes on Amnesia Letal's Film Travesía Travesti.- Chapter 6: Reimagining the Sexual Subject: Feminist Politics and Visual Pleasure in Contemporary Argentine Cinema.- Chapter 7: Intersexuality, Polyamory, and Lesbianism in Women's Filmmaking: Patricia Ortega's Yo, Imposible (2018) and Ruth Caudeli's Petit Mal (2022).- Part Three: Motherhood / Girlhood.- Chapter 8: Creating A Feminist Gaze?: Motherhood and Identity in Recent Costa Rican Cinema.- Chapter 9: Motherhood, Disappearance, and Agency in Mexican Films Made by Women: Sin señas particulares (Fernanda Valadez 2020) and La civil (Teodora Mihai 2021).- Chapter 10: Para verte mejor: Gaze and Aesthetics in Chilean Bildungsfilms.- Part Four: Female Affect: Care, Bonding, and Community.- Chapter 11: The Balance between Care and Self-affirmation: Disability and the Family in Latin American Film.- Chapter 12: Necronarratives, Ethics of Care, and Female Bonding in 21st Century Puerto Rican Cinema: Perfume de gardenias (2021) and La pecera (2023).- Chapter 13: Kitchen Conversation and Photographic Memory: A Focus on Female-Centered Narratives of Lineage and Liberation in Brazilian Film.- Part Five: Intersectionality, Decolonization, and Subjectivities.- Chapter 14: Making Home: Feminist Activism in Two Peruvian Audiovisual Projects.- Chapter 15: Mexican Female Filmmakers: Shifting the Representation of Indigenous Women.- Chapter 16: Pathbreakers of Peruvian Fiction Cinema.