María Luisa Bemberg was born to a traditional family of the Buenos Aires aristocracy. According to the patriarchal customs of the time, she was not permitted to receive a formal education. However, through her voracious intellectual curiosity, overflowing creativity and non-conformist voice she became one of the most celebrated women screenwriters and directors of Latin America.

After working as a playwright and stage director, Bemberg began to write films scripts with considerable success. However, she soon became disillusioned with the way that male directors interpreted her scripts, and she decided to forge new paths by directing her own films. Her first feature film, Momentos (1981) destroys the myth surrounding the stifling existence of women in high society through a discontented and non-conformist protagonist. Feminine issues and the confrontation between women and patriarchal Argentine society make up indispensable thematic dimensions of her films. Co-founder of the Feminist Union in Argentina, Bemberg’s commitment to feminist causes manifests itself beyond the silver screen.

In her subsequent films, women’s quest for independence and the critique of patriarchal power structures become universal themes. Camila (1984), a tragic account of the romance between historic figures Camila O’Gorman and the Catholic priest Ladislao Gutiérrez during the Juan Manuel de Rosas dictatorship, was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Also historical dramas, Miss Mary (1986) shows the hypocrisy and authoritarianism of the Argentine landed gentry during the 1930s, and the celebrated I, the Worst of All (1990) dramatizes the final years of Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, who is widely considered to be the first Latin American feminist. Bemberg’s final film, I Don’t Want to Talk About It (1993), explores the intersectionality among various forms of difference through the figure of a dwarf in search of her own independence.

With respect to the feminist thematic of her films, Bemberg comments: “I chose Camila and Sor Juana because they are transgressive. The idea was to show two women who in one way or another dared to break the mold. Women have remained sealed in their home for too long, docile and silent. … Now, they are beginning to come out of their shells” (Kinetoscopio; my translation).

Vera R. Coleman

Arizona State University