Elvia’s first film project, Aurelia, was about her grandmother’s life. Watching the digitized footage from the 80s in San Bernardino, CA, in the Mount Vernon hood, we see takes of Aurelia in her home on super 8 film. Scenes show her in her personal environment, with voice–over interviews. We also see footage of women working in a tortillería working the masa and making tortillas with the metate and mano using the updated comals to cook the masa. This is the same tortillería where Aurelia worked making tortillas for over twenty years.
Elvia: “Abuelita, ¿dónde nació usted?” [“Grandma, where were you born?”]
Aurelia: “Yo nací en Jerez, Zacatecas. Creada y nacida. Soy de ahí” [“I was born in Jerez, Zacatecas. Born and raised. That’s where I am from.”]
Elvia: “Y, platicame de su vida de niña.” [“And, tell me about your life as a young girl.”
Aurelia: “Yo, de chiquita, mi mamá,nos enseño a empuntar, few lo primero que hice. A trabajar. Empuntar rebozo.” [When I was a young girl, my mom taught us to weave, that was the first thing I learned. To work. To weave rebozos.”]
There is about 20 minutes of original footage (audio and film) from her work, including a segmented piece that is edited to tell her grandmother’s story. Elvia’s interview questions and Aurelia’s responses provide context to her grandmother’s life and experiences in Mexico and the United States. Above are only some of the questions Elvia asks to learn about Aurelia’s youth and life experiences within her film project. Other projects done or collaborated on by Elvia include a public service announcement for the Chicana Service Action Center that she wrote and directed (Alvarado 1987), Sigo Luchando: A story of Incest, (Alvarado 1987), and Breaking the Cycle, (Alvarado 1993). Sigo Luchando was a film thesis project, about 15 minutes, completed for her film M.A. at UCLA done in 1987 documenting the real-life experiences of a women from Ecuador who experienced gender violence from within her family. This story documents her incest story. Breaking the Cycle is a short documentary, about 30 minutes, used to explore and empower women who experienced sexual assault. It documents Latina women, of various ages, sharing their stories in a testimonio method. These stories are used to heal and offer lessons to generate a space for others to share and seek justice for their traumas.
References
Alvarado, E. (Writer and Director). (1987). Public Service Announcement. Chicana Service Action Center.
Alvarado, E. (Writer and Director). (1983). Aurelia. UCLA Film Project.
Alvarado, E. (Writer and Director). (1987). Sigo Luchando: A Story of Incest. UCLA Film Thesis Project.
Alvarado, E. (Co-writer). Breaking the Cycle. (1993). Barbara Sinatra Children’s Center.
Rios-Alvarado, E. (Director). (2024). La Escritora. [Mico-documentary]. CLS 4900 – Digital Testimonios, CSULA).