María Novaro was born on September 11th, 1951 in Mexico City, Mexico. After studying sociology at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) she became interested in film. She ended up studying at the University Center for Cinematography Studies at the UNAM as well. There she began her directing career by filming various shorts like Amor a la vuelta de la esquina (1985), Una isla rodeada de agua from the same year and Azul celesete (1987). 

 

In 1981 she joined the Colectivo Cine-Mujer, an organization that gave opportunities to women film-makers in Mexico to finance their projects. After releasing her first feature film in 1989 titled Lola Novaro has established herself as one of Mexico’s female cinema icons, producing more than 5 films and over 15 shorts of which many are bildung movies, female protagonists that journey through Mexico and transgress typical gender codes.

 

In the year 2000 she releasted Without a Trace, a politically charged road movie which follows incorporates elements of Mexican border life and Mayan culture while following two women as they flee across Mexico due to different motives. After dedicating the next years to short film projects, she returned to the big screen with her latest film, Las buenas hierbas in 2010 that tells a story of a young girl who must deal with her mother's battle with Alzheimer's disease. 

 

 

 

Thomas J. Shalloe

Arizona State University