By Yvonne Marquez
Texas filmmaker and Señorita Cinema founder Stephanie Saint Sanchez used to work at a mom-and-pop video rental store for many years. She would wander through the aisles and look at the covers of the shop’s nearly 70,000 movies, mesmerized by the fact that each film started off as a small idea in someone’s mind—and, for better or for worse, they persevered and saw their idea through to the end. “I would feel very small just thinking about that sometimes,” Saint Sanchez says. “[At first], I thought, what does it matter what I make? But then I would be like, well, why not me?”
In the same spirit, Saint Sanchez is carving out a space for herself and for other Latinas in film, media, and the arts through her all-Latina film festival, Señorita Cinema. Since 2007, Señorita Cinema has showcased work from Latina filmmakers at all levels of experience, in various stages of their career, and from all over the world. The festival has screened everything from big features to experimental videos in a wide range of genres—from comedies to dramas to documentaries. “It’s always been important to me to be able to have a variety of voices, so that’s why our programming is so eclectic,” Saint Sanchez says.
With such abysmal media representation for Latinxs in Hollywood, Señorita Cinema is making a space for Latina voices to be heard and allowing their stories and creations to take center stage. Saint Sanchez hopes to inspire established filmmakers and newcomers alike to continue to create media. “[There’s a] certain immortality to your work,” Saint Sanchez explains. “It’s your voice, your creations, your art babies. [Our work is] a testament that we’re much more than what others have perceived us to be, and that we’re capable of so much. I think that’s inspiring. I know I am inspired by the women [of Señorita Cinema.]”
Saint Sanchez got the idea for Señorita Cinema after she attended the Boyle Heights Latina Independent Film Extravaganza (BHLIFE) founded by playwright Josefina Lopez, best known as the author of the play Real Women Have Curves. Saint Sanchez’s film—a comedic take on La Llorona’s “true” story—was accepted into the film festival in 2006. She was flown out to Los Angeles and had the opportunity to connect with other Latina filmmakers, which was really affirming and powerful for Saint Sanchez. “There was like an unspoken ‘you don’t have to prove yourself here’ [vibe],” Saint Sanchez says. “You could talk shop without any bullshit. I was around all these Latinas who were making movies, having these passionate conversations, and [thought] ‘this community is amazing.’”
Saint Sanchez received her first video camera as a gift on her 13th birthday. She’s been fascinated with filmmaking ever since. Photo by Danielle Benoit.
Once back in Houston, Saint Sanchez received a studio residency from the Lawndale Arts Center which required her to plan and lead an artist workshop. Instead of giving a workshop on filmmaking, Saint Sanchez thought it would be more beneficial to expose Houston to Latina-made films like the ones she saw at BHLIFE. With Lopez’s blessing, Saint Sanchez launched Señorita Cinema, which now takes place every two years.
Saint Sanchez has always loved filmmaking. After begging her parents to give her a video camera for her 13th birthday, Saint Sanchez finally got one. She became obsessed with filming everything—and not just birthdays. “In high school, I was friends with the weirdos and the queers,” Saint Sanchez says. “We would have these parties and get a bunch of costumes, make up stories, go to weird locations, and shoot all kinds of crazy stuff.”
But at first, Saint Sanchez didn’t really consider a filmmaking career. Instead, she went on to study theater education in college. Her plan was to become a theater teacher and to train her students to be top-notch actors so that, later in the summer, they could star in her films. Sanchez thought about other career paths—including becoming a therapist—but everything always seemed to point back to filmmaking. “Then I just decided that I couldn’t fight it anymore,” she recalls. “So I decided to take the plunge and just go for it. Now, I’m a media artist. I still have a love for theater and putting on a show, so somehow I created my own job.”
In addition to making her own media, Saint Sanchez works on QFest, Houston’s queer film festival, and Gender Reel, a film festival dedicated to enhancing the visibility of gender non-conforming, gender-variant, queer, and transgender people, identities, and experiences. She explains that, while she had inklings of being queer as a kid, she didn’t really feel comfortable with her identity until she was in college. Saint Sanchez says that she never had a grand coming out to her family, but rather—over time—she just didn’t want to hide her queerness anymore. “It did take a while, it wasn’t always easy, and there were a lot of hurt feelings on both [my part and my parents’] parts,” she says. “But I feel lucky now—I am with my wife and we’ve been together for 13 years.”
Saint Sanchez says she’s always been interested in the “cross pollination of media,” or how art forms intertwine. In her upcoming project, entitled “Poetic Projections,” she’ll mix theater, film, and poetry by taking three poems authored by Latinxs and turning them into short films, which are slated to premiere next year.
In the meantime, Saint Sanchez will continue to foster her community and to give Latina filmmakers a chance—a chance they usually don’t receive in the first place, she notes. Her advice to the Latina dreamers and creators: “Take advantages of the opportunities you have and let the work speak for itself.”
Señorita Cinema Film Festival 2017 runs September 22-24, with a special pre-festival showcase on September 16. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit senoritacinema.com.
