INTERCEPTING HETEROPATRIARCHY COLONIAL NORMATIVE

LATIN@ QUEER MEDIA ARTISTS AND THEIR WORKS (A DATABASE)

[a work in progress]
Ral Moarquech Ferrera-Balanquet



There is an historical trace of Latin American art criticism interrogating how imperial
technology marks the ideologies of progress and vanguard in relation to art production.
Marta Traba, when writing about the arts of the United States in the 1950s and '60s, argues
that the artistic production of this country derived directly from the imperatives of the consumer
society and was always related to the optimism of the New Deal and the disillusions emerging
in the post second world war period. The Argentinean historian affirms that artists employing
technologies in the United States are loyal servants capable of constructing control mechanisms
leading toward total militarism . With this historical reference, Latin American art historians
and critics, when not understanding the intersection of class, ethnicity, gender and sexuality in
the liberation process, could imagine U.S. Latina/o media artists as servants of the imperial
state. If we add to this historical condition how the question of sexuality is addressed in Latin
American and Latina/o social and civil right nationalistic movements, we can understand how
U.S. Latina/o Queer Media Artists are doubly marginalized by these phallocentric oriented
discourses and how their media practices have become a decolonizing manifestation traveling
into multiple directions to assert our subjectivities.


Still from Negra Linda, Maria Cora

We cannot deny the historical importance of Trabas study and her militant posture. Her
writing, produced in an era when Latin American art history was in the domain of men, and
fighting to disassociate from European and North American art scenes, advises us of the
importance of understanding the imperial relation with media technologies as we hear her words
echoes of Walter Benjamin criticizing the mechanical reproduction of art. Rather that
antagonized with Latin American art criticism, I would like to disrupt that line of discourse
articulating how Latino queer media artists intervene critically, no only Trabas argument, but
also the imperial mechanism of technology, the neo-colonial apparatus, as well as the
nationalistic male lefty rhetoric still employed in many Latin American and U.S. Latina/o
communities.

I sketch at the end of this essay an organic historical database of audiovisual, sound, media and
digital representations produced by Latin@s at the intersection of ethnicity, gender, sexuality
and technology emerging in the U.S. Latina/o Diaspora since the late 1980s until today. I
employ the term queer for political reasons, not because I believe in defining one's sexuality as
fixed categories. Therefore, I invite future generations to articulate new definitions for the
diversity of our sexual practices alive in <<The Americas>>. Being queer proposes an
identification originating within social subjectivity and the unconscious and its presence within
the decolonization process allows me to present a subjective historical context where the artists
here can be studied as information warriors demystifying not only the empire, but also
technologies and social anthropological discourses about Latin@s. I have included works by
artists such as Coco Fusco and Ela Troyano whom have never identified with being queer, but
have employed queer theory in the articulation of their audiovisual discourses. Furthermore, I
would like to point out how the present works of Latin@ queer makers such as Karim Anouz,
Frances Negron-Muntaner, Alex Flores and myself have decentered from queer theory to
integrate multivocal discourses around social cultural, colonialism, and land occupation issues,
among others.

Historical evidence proves that our sexualities are not necessarily anchored in the encounter
with Europe. Other references show how the colonization process marked a heterosexual
normativity in the construction of Latina/o culture, permeating our liberation process. Osa
Hidalgo de la Riva, in her work Primitive and Proud (1992) opens a lead to understanding how
native American cultures of The Americas relate to sexual diversity when she links the Olmecas
with her lesbian Chicana experience. Jacquie Alexander, in her book Pedagogies of Crossing,
points out how the Spanish conquistador Balboa, when arriving to the Caribbean, killed more
than forty male cross dressers to deploy the need for establishing the heteropatriarchy ideology
that emerged in Europe prior to the colonization of <<The Americas>> with the intricate
marriage between the Judeo Christian religions, the state and the ruling class .

The colonization of our sexualities has been a systematic process that is still working within the
subtle mechanisms installed in our Latinos communities, religion being one of the most
effective forms of colonial subjugation. The already historical evidence of the brutal rape of our
indigenous female population along with the killing of the native transgenders which Alexander
references are located within a chronological colonial axis where we can observed the
desexualization of African and Native deities in order to impose the heteropatriarchy normative
in <<The Americas>>. As I pointed out in a previous essay: Shango, the deity of the thunder in
Yoruba mythology, a male deity well known for his sexual appetite, was converted in Cuba to
Santa Barbara a female Christian virgin. Oshun, the Yoruba deity of love and female sexuality
and Atabey, the Taino deity mother of the water, fertility and protector of female and male
sexuality, were converted in a syncretic colonial maneuver in La Virgen de la Caridad del
Cobre . In her seminal analysis of transnational Chicana/o/Latina/o experience, Gloria
Anzaldua exposed how Coatlicue and Tonanztzin, the serpent woman, symbol of fertility and
growth for the Nahuas, were desexualized as they were converted into the myth of La Virgen de
Guadalupe .

One could assume that with the coming of age of the sexual revolution and the fight against
AIDS that prompted the queer movement in the 80s and 90s, the works of Latin@s queer
media artists could find a better treatment within the so called queer community. When
responding to Richard Fungs presentation dealing with the representation of Asian men in porn
at the conference How Do I look?, the first major critical space that looked at queer media
representations, the late queer Latin@ media maker Ray Navarro stated: Ive found a
consistent theme running throughout gay white male porn of Latino men represented as either
campesino or criminal. That is, it is focuses less on the body typemasculine, slight, or what
everthan on signifiers of class. It appears to be class fantasy collapsed with race fantasy, and in
a way it parallels the actual power relation between Latino stars and the producers and
distributors, most whom are white.



Still from No Me Olvides, Ral Moarquech Ferrera-Balanquet

During the '90s, the debates about multiculturalism demonstrated that systems of funding,
distribution, programming and cultural recognition had systematically excluded Native
American, Latina/os, women, African American, Asian Americans, gays and lesbians, the
working class and the disabled communities. At the same time this discussion was taking place,
I traveled across the United States, Canada and Europe showing my work and speaking on
panels at major gay and lesbian film and video festivals. In most of these events I perceived
how institutional multiculturalism perpetuated media racism within the queer media
community. Still today, when looking at present catalogs of queer media festivals, I witness the
works of Latin@ queer media artists grouped and employed at the festival to create a series of
connections which are intrinsically related to racism. I experienced seeing my work, as well as
the works of Marlon Riggs, Richard Fung and Mona Smith among others, presented in such a
way as to distort the intention and cultural specificity of their pieces. The categorization of these
works under the minority heading emphasized the racism these festivals were attacking.
However, none of the works of which I speak deals specifically with the issue of racism in the
gay community. Deep research into the way programming was executed in 1990 at New Yorks
New Festival, or The 10th Chicago Lesbian and Gay Film and Video Festival, which organized
a screening around the theme Minority: Racism in the Gay Community/Homophobia in Minority
Communities, or the Color Me Here panel at the 10th Annual Los Angeles International Gay
and Lesbian Festival could provide the historical facts. At this last festival, queer media artists
of color such as Cheryl Dunye, Dawn Sugg, Ming-Yuen Ma, Shari Frilot, Alfonso Moret,
Thomas Allen Harris and myself not only experienced one of the most racist attitude enacted at
any of these festivals, but we also learned that the festival had used our names to obtain funds
from the city of Los Angeles and instead of placing us at hotels the way the festival did with the
white gay media makers, we were asked to find a place to stay with friends. The reaction of the
queer media artists of color was superb. After a brief meting, we decided to denounce the
festivals maneuvers at the panel and, in a performative gesture, I brought my hat to the festival
director when speaking about the socio-economic conditions of queer media artists of color.

The language developed by the art grant agencies around multiculturalism gave the opportunity
for these festivals to appropriate funding allocated for queer media artists of color. In their grant
application, these festivals presented themselves as diverse and multicultural and after obtaining
the money, the festivals programmed the works of queer media artists of color under the above
mentioned titles, failing to understand the economic realities in communities of color and
reinforcing the colonial racist mentality so ingrained in the white queer community. In a recent
publication, Cathy J. Cohen starts her essay discussing stories of alleged racism at the New
York based Gay Mens Health Crisis (GMHC) pointing to the continuing practice of racism
many of us still experience in the queer community.

The racism and sexism inherent in the gay community have forced us to reclaim our place
within Latina/o communities. The history of the gay movement has rendered invisible the
participation of Latina/os and African Americans, not mentioning that the ones confronting the
police at Stonewall were the Latina/os and African American Queers. Lesbians are always
relegated to a footnote.

Latina/o curators and scholars have directed their efforts to include our works in major media
exhibitions and conferences. Queer Latin@ media works, as well as critical analysis of these
works has been included in Latino Media Arts: Theory and Culture, organized by Chon
Noriega, Lilian Jimenez and Ana M. Lopez at Film and Video Gallery, Whitney Museum of
American Art, New York , New York in 1992; Latino Collaborative, an important media
organization in New York City presented in 1993 Otras Cosas del Querer curated by Euridice
Arratia; Screening Latinidad, a conference presentation at the Art Museum, Duke University,
North Caroline, in February of 1994; the 10th Chicago Latino Film Festival in Chicago, Illinois
showcased Representation, a curatorial project of Queer Latino video that I organized in 1994;
Frances Negron-Muntaner curated in 1993 The Politics of Hyphenation: Latino Gay and
Lesbian Independent Media for the Philadelphia based Neighborhood Film Video Project;
David Olivares organized Encounter, a film and video program that included more than twenty
five works from U.S. Latin@s, Latin American and Spanish media artists for the 18th San
Francisco, Gay and Lesbian Festival; Queer Women of Color Media Arts Project (QWOCMAP)
organized in 2007 Espejo: A Closer Look - Queer Latina Shorts and major international
festivals and media circuits such as 39th Robert Flaherty Seminar, 1992s L.A. Freewaves, San
Antonio CineFestival, the 11th Rio de Janerio Cine Festival and Torontos Cruzando
Fronteras/Crossing Borders have showcased the works of Latin@ queer media artists.




Most of the works produced by Latin@ queer media artists dismantle pre-established notion of
desire and search for a historical location where desire intersects with our ethnicities,
communities and subjectivities. As Latino media artists, sexuality is not our only concern. Our
works delineate our subjective location intercepting with a large cultural and socio- political
context where issues such as violence, migration, bilingualism, exile, feminism,
marginalization, family relations, gender politics, sexuality, desire, history and knowledge
define the variable geometry of our media work. Any attempt to read our works with a narrow
reference to race or sexuality perpetuates the very cords of the colonial system we have
decentered.

The projects and media artists included in the database provide an expanded territory where
further studies might emerge. The works presented here integrate the rational/emotional, the
reflective/entertaining, the analytic/recreational, the local/global, the individual/ collective, and
the informational/poetic in their narrative structures. These integrations strengthen the
organizational capacity, the reflexive/expression, and the struggle for survival and pleasure,
placing them in function of a socio-cultural transformation, agency the mechanism for liberating
the unconscious. One of the main concerns of Latin@ media artists is to activate the audience
response, the informational process and its participation in the constructions of the media
discourses, for we continue a history of media practice associated with Third Cinema and the
New Latin American Cinema.

!-Traba, Marta. Dos dcadas vulnerables en las artes plsticas latinoamericanas, 1950-1970. Buenos Aires and
Mexico City: Siglo Veintiuno Editores. Second Edition, 2005.
2-Alexander, Jacquie M. Pedagogies of Crossing: Meditations on Feminism, Sexual Politics, Memory, and the
Sacred. Durham and London: Duke University Press, 2005.
3-Ferrera-Balanquet, Raul. "Multiplying Radical Difference: Reading Latino Lesbian and Gay Audiovisual
Discourse." Art PapersVol. 17, No. 5, Atlanta, Georgia.
4-Anzaldua, Gloria. Borderland/La Frontera, The New Mestiza. San Francisco: Spinsters-Aunt Lute, 1987.
5-"Discussion after Richard Fungs Looking for My Penis: The Eroticized Asian in Gay Video Porn." How Do I
Look?: Queer Film and Video. Ed. Bad Object-Choice. Seattle: Bay Press, 1991.
6-Cohen, Cathy J. "Punks, Bulldaggers, and Welfare Queens: The Radical Potential of Queer Politics?" Black Queer
Studies, Ed. Patrick Johnson and Mae G. Anderson. Durham and London: Duke University Press, 2005.



DATABASE: US/Latina/o Queer Films and Videos

A
Aburto, Gonzalo. Crazy Loves (2003) USA, video, 40 min.
the story of Angel, a young professional who lives in New York City. Actively bisexual, Angel has so far
been able to keep his gay and straight lives neatly compartmentalized. But when the condom rips while
hes having sex with his girlfriend, Sandra, the doubts and uncertainty unleashed by this mishap convince
him to take an HIV test. The test results force Angel to face the truth about his sexuality, and drive
Sandra and Angels male lover, Marco, to confront their own prejudices and to come together to face
their now intertwined lives.

Acosta, Danny: Historia de Violencia (1991) USA, film, 7 min.
This disturbing and controversial experimental film tells the story of 28-year-old Ray Garcia, whose
abusive upbringing still affects him deeply. His personal history growing up in a violent family,
compounded with the barrage of violence he views on television, pushes him over the edge. In the end, he
contemplates committing violent crimes himself. A History of Violence questions the power that familial
and media violence has on both individuals and our culture at large.

Ainouz, Karin. Seams (1993) Brazil/USA
Una reconstruccin melodramtica y crtica socio-sexual a la historia del nordeste de Brasil;

Ainouz, Karim. Paixao Nacional (1994) Brazil/USA, video 6 min.
The first chapter of a triology. A young man flees his country and freezes to death in the hold of a
airplane bound to Europe. His dying memories of the sexual constraints he faced in Brazil are interwoven
with a tourist impression of the same country as an oversexed paradise.

Ainouz, Karim. Madame Sat (2004) Brasil, Film, 105 min.
A story inspired by the life of one of the most remarkable figures in Brazilian popular culture, Joo
Francisco dos Santos (1900-1976). In turn, bandit, transvestite, street fighter, brothel cook, convict and
father to seven adopted children, dos Santos--better known as Madame Sat--was also a notorious gay
performer who pushed social boundaries in a volatile time.

Ainouz, Karim. Cu de Suely, O (2006) Brazil, film, 90 min.
In order to get funds, a young woman living in the Northeast of Brazil decides to raffle her own body.

Aikin, Susana and Aparicio, Carlos. Minas de Sal (1990) USA, video, 47 min.
The video presents the lives of Latino transvestite who find themselves homeless in New York City, have
made shelter in a row of abandoned garbage trucks.

Aguilar, Jeanette. Simones 24 (2002) USA, video, 25 min.
The piece follows Simones adventures negotiating her sometimes maddening world of relationship
drama, identity politics, and self-discoverywho gets help from her fashionable friends.

Almerinda, Laurel. Firepussy (2002) USA, 35mm., 19 min.
The guilt of a childhood accident and its subsequent effects wrack Maria, a Latina poet/pyromaniac, who
searches for her lost heritage and flees to Mexico where she meets a seductive but mysterious stranger
who may hold the key to unlocking her past.

Alvarenga, Kimberly. Espejo (2004) USA, video
A teenage girl discovers a part of herself when she accidentally stumbles into a lesbian bar.

Alvarenga, Kimberly. Fashion Resistance to Militarism (2006) USA, video, 10 min.
A fresh and provocative look at the military's influence on fashion and popular culture.

Alvarez, Marina and Spiro, Ellen. (In)Visible Women (1991) USA, video, 26 min,
Focuses on the heroic and empowered responses of Latina women who are HIV positive.

Alvarez, Lisa. Perfectly Flawed (2008) USA, video, 5 min.

Awad, Juana. Apprehension (2006) Canada, video, 5 min.
Images from the 1948 Bogotas peoples revolt after the assassination of Colombian presidential
candidate J.E. Gaetan lay the visual foundation for this piece. The filmmaker examines the absurdity of
the rhetoric of terrorism and extermination. Superimposed text is from a speech by Colombias president
to the nations military forces.

B
Baltazar, Gabriel. God is Shit; He is Laughing at Me! (2006) USA, video, color, 2 min.
If God dosent care, and actually gets off on misfortune, what should we do? Answer: create new queer
gods and goddesses!

Bellott, Rodrigo. Sexo (2001) USA, video, 9 min.
An adrenaline-charged commentary on pornography and its audiences.

C
Canonge, Hector. MUTANATURe (2006) New Media Installation, where methods of food production,
harvesting, and commercialization are presented in a series of locative interventions.

Canonge, Hector. IDOLatries (2008) a New Media Installation
Exploring feminine iconography on food products through the use of barcode technology.

Canonge, Hector. MurosDistopicos / DystopicWalls (2007) Site-specific installation.

Castro, Rick. Automolove (1993) USA, video, 4 min.
A man makes love to his car in the middle of the dessert.

Castro, Rick. Fertile Latoyah Jackson (1994) USA, video, 5 min.
From the series Fertile Latoyah Jackson Video Magazine, this video offers the vision of a marginal drag
queen.

Castro, Rick. Three faces of Women (1994) USA, video color, 60 min.
A hilarious satire on the state of post feminist, post queer, post politically correct philosophy. Starring
Christine Martin, Vaginal Cram Davis and Bruce La Bruce.

Castro, Rick. Plushies & Furries (2001) USA, video, 22 min.
The video takes us into a world where fur suits are sexy and doing it doggy style takes on a whole new
meaning.

Cervantes-Yoshida, Kristina. Kimonos & Tamales (2004) USA, video,
This short film follows the filmmaker's path towards claiming both her Mexican and Japanese identities
through music. Kristina Cervantes-Yoshida is a environmental educator by day and first-time filmmaker
by night.

Clara, Maria. Life On Christopher St. (2002) USA, video, 28 min.
A riveting portrait of the young Black and Latino hip-hop homos who have made the gay historic strip
their haven. Acceptance is the word on the street. From the fierce divas throwing shade, to the hustlers
working the avenues, and the homo-thugs, the film puts the spotlight on the Stonewall Inns lesser-known
neighbors.

Charez, Jess. Sin Fronteras, a gay Latino radio program
(Executive Producer of show in Dallas)
sinfronteras@hotmail.com

Cora, Mara. Negra Linda (2004)
The newest girl child in the family is blessed by the spirits of her African ancestors, against the backdrop
of the ancient ocean.

Cortez, Jesse and Gill, Harjant. SOME REASONS FOR LIVING (2003) USA, 20 min., video.
SOME REASONS FOR LIVING follows two Latina trans women of two generations who become
friends and sisters; through their experiences and mutual support of each other they emerge as powerful
warriors, making it clear that there is no weakness in fighting for your own right to exist

D
Del Valle, Desi. Cruel (1994) 16 mm. film, B/W, sound 20min.
A Latina couple splits apart when one partner has an affair with a white woman. The films explores the
feelings of heartbreak and betrayal intercepting with the issue of race.

Domingo, Xavier. Si? Yeah!... USA, video, color, 10 min.
A bilingual poem, employing a formal editing composition, deliveres simultaneous languages
communicating the importance of bilingualism in Latinos communities

Donis, Alex. Buscando Gomorrah/Searching for Gomorrah. Digital Photography. A series of Los
Angeles locations that used to be cruising spots before the Internet hook-ups.

E
Endara, Felix. Brocrush (2006) USA, video, 5 min.
A visual poem dedicated to FTMs everywhere.

Enrquez, Mnica. A place to begin (2005) USA, video, 12 min.
An experimental documentary that explores the filmmaker's personal artistic process.

Enrquez, Mnica. A Journey Home (2003) USA, video, 9 min.
Poetically depicts home, community, and immigration for three queer Latina women in San Francisco.

Enriquez, Monica. Escrito (2007) USA, video, 2 min.
Espinosa, Trina. Serve Thy Master (2005) USA, video, 12 min.

F
Farias, Jesse. The Role of a Man (1994) USA, video. 2 min.
A gay Chicano teenager recollects his struggle with homophobia and alienation with intense visions.

Fernandez, Oscar. Epiphany (2000) USA, video, 7 min.
A 14-year-old filmmaker makes a stunning debut with the searing portrait of a youth in crisis.

Ferrera-Balanquet, Ral. Iluminando la aguas (1989) Cuba/USA, video, 4 min.
The world under the water and the myth of Yemaya, de Afro Cuban goddess of the sea become a
metaphor for the re-encounter of two lovers in an imagined reality.

Ferrera-Balanquet, Ral. Mrida Proscrita (1990) Cuba/USA, video, 7 min.
A sad sepia love story vibrantly intercut against a background of vivid street scenes. Two Latino lovers
and their relationships difficulties caused by machismo and fixed roles.

Ferrera-Balanquet, Ral. We Are Hablando (1991) Cuba/USA, video, 7 min.
Discuss censorship, Latino culture and sexual identity.

Ferrera-Balanquet, Ral. Buscando Nuestras Voces (1991) Cuba/USA, video, 30 min.
A vivid portrait of a lesbian and two gay men narrating their experiences as Cubans in exile.

Ferrera-Balanquet, Ral. Cities of Lust (1993), Cuba/USA, video, 30 min.
Cities of Lust addresses issues of relationships, desire, and ethnicity among African-American and Latino
gay men. Filmed on location in Merida, Chicago, and at the San Francisco International Lesbian and Gay
Film Festival, the tape works best of all as a vivid description of racism and of the social obstacles to
romantic fulfillment.

Ferrera-Balanquet, Ral. Las Cosas Que El Me Hizo Hacer (1994) Cuba/USA, video, color, 5 min.
A passionate reminiscence of long-distance love.

Ferrera-Balanquet, Ral. Nubes Soleadas en la Crossrods (1996) Cuba/USA Video, color, 26 minutes.
A recollections of framgneted memories from childhood to the present are intercut with historical and
fictional events to reconstruct the exilic self of a Cuban immigrant. After years in exilie. Ernesto wants to
understand how his emotional instability is linked to the historical moment in which he is living.
Collidng, juxtaposing, spinning from and jumping into different levels of the narrative, the video creates a
layering of audiovisual images outlining the accumulation of experiences and the multiplicity of the self
emerging after the experience of exile.

Ferrera-Balanquet, Ral. Traveling Corners/Esquina Rodantes (2003-2007) Cuba/USA/Mexico, New
media project, variable dimension. http://www.digipopo.org/content/esquinasrodantes/
An interdisciplinary work in progress exploring the virtual and the physical results of a nomadic
movement and an informational cartography where immigrants from Yucatan, Mexico operate in the
context of a transnational US urban metropolitan enclave such as Los Angeles, at the same time; maintain
tides with their native land.

Ferrera-Balanquet, Ral. Merida THo-MX (2009) Cuba/USA/Mexico, Locative Media, variable
dimensions. Http://www.cartodigital.org/meridatho
Merida Tho_MX is a hybrid artwork employing the wireless network established in four public parks of
the city of Merida, Yucatan, Mexico to create a mixed territory tranversing an organic history of the
urban development of the city from pre-Colombian times to a post technological future, not in that
chronological order.

Flores, Alex. The First Latin American Dyke March (2004) Mexico/Canada, video, 22 min.
The piece takes us to this monumental event in Mexico City, interviews the event organizers, and
captures the euphoria on the street during an important landmark in lesbian history.

Flores, Alex. Carmela's Package (2006) Mexico/Canada, video, 7 min.
A day filled with trials, tribulations and a mysterious package ends in a sweet surprise for Carmela.

Flores, Alex. Juarez (2007) Mexico/Canada, video, 72 min.
http://www.lasperlasdelmarfilms.com/Juareztrailer.html
Juarez is a feature length documentary that shows the theories found by family members of the victims,
forensics, journalists, artists and activists in Mexico, questioning why the federal government hasnt
intensified its interest to thoroughly investigate the brutal murders of over 460 women in Ciudad Juarez,
Chihuahua.
Frilot, Shari. Cosmic Demonstration of Sexuality (1992), USA, video. Humorous comparison between
feminine sexuality and the structure of the cosmos.

Frilot, Shari. What Is A Line (1994) USA, video, 10 min.
Weaving the narrative of a jilted love with footage of a train in motion, this tape is a dark comedy study
of the mechanics of physical and psychological progression.

Frilot, Shari. Black nation/Queer Nation (1996) USA, video, 55 minutes. This is an experimental
documentary chronicling the March 1995 groundbreaking conference on lesbian and gay sexualities in
the African diaspora. The conference brought together an array of dynamic scholars, activists and cultural
workers including Essex Hemphill, Kobena Mercer, Barbara Smith, Urvashi Vaid, Raul Ferrera-
Balanquet, and Jacqui Alexander to interrogate the economic, political and social situations of diasporic
lesbians, gay men, bisexual and transgendered peoples. The video brings together the highlights of the
conference and draws connections between popular culture and contemporary black gay media
production.

Frilot, Shari. Strange & Charmed (2003) USA, video, 14 min.
A three-part short: A lonely woman literally takes matters into her hands; a spurned lover gets pleasure
afresh after a chance meeting with a hot and willing substitute; and a child wants to explore a playmate in
a new way.

Fong-Olivares, Yaromil. At home with Desalojos Realtors (2004)
A mock infomercial about the gentrification of the Mission District in San Francisco. Yaromil Fong-
Olivares is a Dominican immigrant of Chinese decent and hopes to shed light on the dangers posed by
gentrification.

Fusco, Coco. Phoconovela (1995) USA, video, color, 27 min.
The first bilingual, bicultural Chicano soap opera to capture humor and madness of life in East Los
Angeles. The story of Doa Roa and her two sons forewarned of imminent danger by the tele-astrologer
Dionne DLove.

G
Gajilan, Arlyn. Kim (1987). USA, video, 27 min.
Kim is the candid personal testimony of a young Puerto Rican lesbian's coming out and coming of age in
New York City. An intensely personal story unfolds as Kim takes us through the bar scene, the life of an
exotic dancer, and the finding of feminism, which plays an important role in Kim's developing
perspective on sexuality, love, and her relationship with her mother.

Galarreta, Mario. Alonsos Deadline (2007) USA, video, 6 min.
A recently widowed professor, Dr. Alonso, finds new hope in an unlikely connection with a young school
janitor.

Garcia, Martha. To Be With You (1995) USA, video, color, 1 min.
Confessions of a true love made by a teenage Chicana dyke to her paramour.

Garcia, Martha. Just Another Friend (1994) USA, video, color 2 min.
Longing and unrequited loveclassic drama enacted with a teenage lesbian twist on the streets of
Hollywood.

Gomez, Gabriel. How Has AIDS effected Your Life? (1991) USA, video, 10 min.

Guzman, Mary Do The Math (2006) USA, 35mm., 4 min.
A hell-raising performance by writer/poet Meliza Baales, Do the Math follows a young Latina lesbian as
she seeks a better life.

Guzmn, Mary. Mechanic's Daydream (2007) USA, video, 9 min.
A hi-def homage to perfection: high femmes, gerialists, and vintage motorcycles.


H
Han, Luna: The Cock: Lesbian Owned & Operated (2008) USA , video, 10 min.
The colorful and heartfelt journey of a first-time business owner from Jalisco, Mexico to Oakland, CA
where she owns and operates a successful restaurant called the Cock-A-Doodle Cafe (The Cock).

Harrington, Raquel Cecilia. Entwined (1997) USA, 118 min,.
Attraction ignites true love between two women who realize they must break their current relationships in
order for theirs to unfold. Despite the negative forces surrounding them, Elena and Julia's love flourishes
as they steal every moment they can to be together. The lush tropics of Miami and the blending of the
Cuban and American cultures is the palate on which this sensuous love story takes place. From dreams to
reality, Elena and Julia must follow their hearts and fulfill the desires of destiny.

Henriquez, Patricio. Jucitan Queer Paradise (2002) Canada/Mexico, video, 65 min.
The substantially sized queer population of Juchitan, a small Mexican town, lends its explanation to
legend. According to faithful believers, God gave Vincete Ferrer, the patron Saint of Juchitan, a bag full
of queers to distribute throughout the world.

I
Instituto de Familia "La Raza" y "Proyecto Latino SIDA" San Francisco. Ojos que no ven. (1987) USA,
video, 30 min.
Sexual relations among teenagers and the discussion of homosexuality in the Latino community.

K
Kuiland-Nazario, Marcus. marcus@carsla.net
A Puerto Rican American Inter disciplinary artist, writer, curator Marcus Kuiland-Nazario is one of the
many founding artists of The 18th Street Arts Center, Highways Performance Space and Clean Needles
Now. Marcus is a co founder of the MAX10 performance laboratory at the Electric Lodge and
curator/producer of the 12 year old multi site live art lab - Pop Tarts based @ Highways Performance
Space. He is a member of the Performing Arts Committee of the City of Santa Monica's Arts Commission
and a former contributor to the LA WEEKLY.

L
Lazo, Ana. Dear Viejo (2004)
A nostalgic recollection of a grandfather seen through the eyes of a young Latina lesbian growing up in
El Salvador.

Lozano, Jorge: Ladronas de Tampones (1996) Colombia/Canada, video, 22 min.
Two women celebrating the menstrual cycle.

Lei Te, Duda. No Problem (2003) USA/Brazil, video, 5 min.
A fast-moving music video showing us a day in the life of Ultra Claudia, a Brazilian superstar living in
Miami.

Lopez, Alma. Our Lady: The Controversy (2001) USA, website.
http://www.almalopez.net/ORindex.html
Uses the web to produce a historical context for her work. Where is the artwork, in the digital image or in
the extended territory of the website and the public controversy?

Lopez, Maurice. The Pretty Boy King of Hollywood (2007) USA, video, 23 min.
The infamous and engaging Pretty Boy King of Hollywood gives us the inside skinny on the Pretty Boy
Empire, while taking us on whirlwind tour of the LGBT youth scene in Southern California and crowns
this year's Prince of the Pretty Boy Republic.

Lujan, Al: S&M in the hood (1998) USA, video, 5 min.
Latino men in leather go out.



M
Martnez Zaldvar, Juan Carlos. Palingenesis (1989) Cuba/USA, video, 9 min.
A visual representation of the transmigration of the soul.

Martnez Zaldvar, Juan Carlos. Violentas Requiem (1994) Cuba/USA, video, 7 min.
A drag king/queen extravaganza that tells a fist-clenching, feminist tale of the madness and despair of
domestic violence.

Martnez Zaldvar, Juan Carlos. 90 Miles (2001) Cuba/USA, video, 75 min.
In 1980, Juan Carlos Zaldvar was a 13-year-old loyalist of the Cuban Revolution jeering in the streets at
the thousands of "Marielitos" leaving the island by boat for the United States. Within weeks, he was a
Marielito himself, headed with the rest of his family for a new life in Miami. As related by Zaldvar in the
intensely personal and evocative 90 Miles, arrival in South Florida is only the beginning of the family's
struggles to comprehend the full meaning of their passage into exile. What follows is an intimate and
uneasy accounting of the historical forces that have split the Cuban national family in two, and which
shape the passage of values from one generation to the next.

Montoya, Patricia. A Ride Out (1993) Colombia/USA, video, 10 min.
The story of a one night love affair between two women is combined with a poem as the narrator
understands her immigrant experience through which she discovers herself as the desirable other.

Montoya, Patricia. El culebreo, la muerte de un colombiano y el acordionista que no est (1996)
Colombia/USA

Montoya, Patricia. Candide (2007) Colombia/USA, video, 12 min.
Lesbian love and the nostalgia of the immigrant from the roof of Tijuana.

Medina, Dolissa. A Lineage Of Kind Men (2004) USA, video, 4 min.
The works shows an alternative view of Mexican masculinity and gender, seen from the eyes of a young
girl discovering her sexuality.

Monforte, Ivan: I Belong to You (2006) USA, video, 4 min.
A kiss.

Morgado Escanilla, Claudia. No Bikini (2007) Chile/Canada, video, 9 min.
At seven years old, Robin decides to go without her bikini top at a summer camp with surprising
results!...

Moret, Alfozo. Please Decompose Slowly (1991) USA, video, 30 min.
A collage of images, poems, and stories relating to the makers transition from self-hatred regarding men
of color. The tape focuses on the maker relationship with his lover Salvador Maryinez and his death due
to AIDS:

Maytorena-Taylor, Jennifer. The Grat Dykes of Holland (1993) USA, video, 7 min.
Girls lip synch to a Disney ditty and visit the Folsom St. Fair.

N
Navarro, Ray. Lyric of a Fallen Angel (1985) USA, video, 5 min.

Navarro, Ray. Defect (1990) USA, video, 20 min.
Interviews and personal confessions.

Negrn Mutaner, Francis. AIDS in the Barrio: Eso no me pasa a m (1989)
USA, 16mm, color, 29 minutes.
Documentary on the socioeconomic and cultural context of the AIDS epidemic in a Latino Philadelphia
neighborhood.

Negrn Muntaner, Francis. Brincando el Charco (1994) USA, 16 mm., 55min.
A young Latina artist serves seven years of exile in Philadelphia. When her father dies suddenly, Claudia
copes with detachment. While she considers her obligation to a family who abandoned her because she is
a lesbian, Claudia spends her days photographing and documenting other Latina/o gays. Her gay white
publishing agent, however, discourages Claudia from pushing "the people-of-color issue" onto the rest of
the community. Although she steers clear of becoming too involved in her lawyer girlfriend's political
activism, Claudia copes inwardly with the effects of what has happened to her people politically since the
colonialization of Puerto Rico.

Negrn Muntaner, Francis. Homeless Diaries (1996) USA, video, 50 min.
A video diary featuring the intertwined stories of the filmmaker's search for cultural belonging and a
group of squatters' struggle for housing.

Negrn Muntaner, Francis. For the Record: Guam and World War II (2007) mini-DV/film, 56 min.
For the Record is a one-hour documentary about one of the rare times in American modern history that a
foreign power has occupied U.S. territory: Guam, 1941-1944.

O
Oceano, Nick. The Cousin/ El Primo (2007) USA, video, 16 min.
A sheltered, sensitive teenager visits his tough, older cousin in Laredo, Texas and learns a hard lesson
about what it means to be a man.

Oquendo Villar, Carmen. Boquita (2005) USA, 16 mm., 10 min.
The story of a transgender nightlife performer from the Dominican Republic called Boquita. Boquita,
who currently resides in Jamaica Plain, MA, works as an AIDS prevention counselor at the Hispanic
Office of Planning and Evaluation (HOPE) in Jamaica Plain during the day and performs at various
nightclubs in Massachusetts at night.

Oquendo Villar, Carmen. Mizery (2006) USA, video, 17 min.
Mizery is dragqueen from Panama who doesnt have an accent and she is black. She has been in the
United States since she was nine years old, so she is more fluent in English.

Oliva, Apollo. Colorblind (2006) USA, video, 20 min.
A straight guy finds himself attracted to his new gay neighbor.

P
Pearl, Celestina. Las Maanitas (2007) USA, video , 9 min.

Portugal, Carlos. East Side Story (2006) USA, 88 Minute
The trials and tribulations of Diego (Ren Alavarado), a Chicano living in East Los Angeles who spent
years in culinary school but is stuck serving dinner specials in the family restaurant, his old neighborhood
is being gentrified by rich Caucasians, and living with his grandmother makes it hard to play kinky bad
border cop/illegal alien games with his boyfriend Pablo (David Bern).

Q
Quintero, Gabriel. Fairy Steps: A Gay Intervention (2001) USA, video, 8 min.
Only his own inner fairy can save a gay boy from being rescued from homosexuality when his ex-
girlfriend, straight best friend, mom and grandparents pop in on him unexpectedly.

R
Rivas, Lourdes: Queering My Mother (2007) USA, video, 7 min.
The coming-out story of a rebellious queer daughter and how it served as an incentive for her intolerant
mother to work towards a mutual understanding. ... more

Rivera, Ignacio. They (2008), USA, video, color, sound
They is an experimental short, using archival footage, about one persons journey through their fluid and
loose gender expression.

Rivera-Weiss, Margo Mercedes. Mashed, Boiled & Fried (2008) USA, video, 16 min.
Imagine a cooking reality show where all of the chefs and all of the critics are people of color
representing cuisine from the Dominican Republic to St. Vincent...

Rivera-Weiss, Margo Mercedes. Tienes Hambre? (2004) USA, video, 6.5 min.
We follow a hungry Latin butch to the taco trucks of East Oakland's Fruitvale neighborhood where she
has a romantic encounter. Marco Mercedes Rivera- Weiss is a queer Peruvian Jew made in Miami, and
lives in Fruitvale with Beloved Hadas and Dogman.

Robles, Augie: Cholo Joto (1993) USA, video 12 min.
Latino gay men in San Francisco negotiate an existence somewhere between machismo and role
rejection, between a largely racist gay community and the absence of other spaces to be gay.

Robles, Augie and Aguirre, Valentn. Viva 16 (1994) USA, video, 30 min.
A raw and chatty celebration of the San Francisco's lesbian and gay Chicano/Latino community.

Rodriguez, Dave. She Kills He (2005) USA, video, 20 min.
Meet an atypical street kid and his unexpected love interest in She Kills He, shot on the gritty streets of
Miami. Are you a butch?

Rodriguez, Felix. One Moment in Time (1992) USA, video, 20 min.
New Yorks vogueing and ballroom culture, this video is a riveting docu-drama about a butch god who
forsakes body and soul in order to please a new lover.

Rodriguez, Felix. The Milan Ball (1995) USA, video, 8 min.
A behind the scenes look at pre-op transsexuals as they prepare for their festive night at the Allure Ball.

Rodriguez, Jesus. Solitude (2005) USA, video, 9 min.
A journey through the fantasies and nightmares of a lonely man.

Rodriguez, Rebeka. Quality Bad Funds The Revolution (2006) USA, video, 9 min.
Roller skaters rob a bank.

Rodriguez, Ser. Needles & Condos (2008), USA, video
http://www.mefeedia.com/entry/needles-condos/13271788/
Needles, condos, testosterone, cranes, oh my! Sensory explosions abound in this personal narrative
documenting the fixations of a twenty-something transman living through the gentrification of the Lower
East Side, his childhood neighborhood.

Rosabal, Alejandra. Look Away (2004) USA, video 17 min.
This scintillating film delves into the seemingly perfect home of a conventional catholic Latin family and
the secret double lives of its members.

Rubio, Juan, Easy Not (2007) USA, video, 13 min.
Chronicles female impersonators working at a Sunday brunch spot in the fashionable neighborhood of
Adams Morgan in Washington D.C.

Ruelas Miguel and Cruz, Maria. In My Skin (2008) USA, video, 20 min.
A young Latino man documents his process of going through gender transition. From his very first T
shot to growing facial hair he lets us know what it takes to love himself and how it affects his family,
work, and intimate relationships.

Ruiz, Viva. Sister Satan/Monja Satanica (2007) USA, video, 15 min.

S
Snchez, Gabriela. No por que lo diga Fidel (1988),
An autobiographic reflection of a Chicana Lesbian

Simo, Ana Mara. How to Kill Her (1990) USA, video, 7 min.
A beautifully shot, black and white film about the obsession of one woman (played by Ela Troyano).

Simo, Ana Mara. Dyke TV (1993). Television.
Dyke TV, a half-hour television program produced by lesbians, for lesbians was aired on public access
cable television across the United States for more than a decade. It included a mix of news, political
commentary, the arts, health, and sports

Sanchez, Joshua. Kill Or Be Killed (2004) USA, video, 13 min.
The secret friendship between two 13-year-old boys takes an unexpected turn,

T
Troyano, Ela. Carmelita Tropicana: Your Kunst is your Waffen (1994) USA, video, 30 min.
Mixing Carmelita Tropicana's monologues and drag performance, the women's prison film and American
musicals, this Lower East Side day-in-the-life of the self styled "superintendent-performance artiste"
wreaks havoc with cultural stereotypes. Starring Carmelita Tropicana aka Alina Troyano.

Troyano, Ela. Latin Boys Go to Hell (1996) USA, film, 75 min. To the movies young, gay Hispanic
Brooklynites, who are addicted to the program, Dos Vidas isnt just a guilty pleasure but an
immersion course in romantic abjection. It teaches them to suffer majestically, to take their passions to
the limit. And Latin Boys Go to Hell, which suggests a much cruder, low-rent answer to the gender-
bending comic romances of Pedro Almodovar, follows at least one of its characters over the line from
spurned lover into gun-toting madman

U
Ulloa, Luis. In Any House (2003) USA/Mexico, 16mm, 13 min.
The unexpected coming out of a young Mexican man is seen from his fathers perspective.

V
Velazquez, Elaine. Gay Lives and Cultural Wars (1994) USA, video, 20 min.
A hard hitting examination of the myths propagated by the Right.

W
Welbon, Yvonne. Missing Relations (1994) USA, video, color 13 min.
An experimental narrative recreating the loss of a twin sister taken away by the father to explore
childhood memories of love, loss and the family.
Wilson, Joe. Other Loves/Otros Amores (2006) USA, video, 6 min.





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