Maria Novaro facts for kids

Quick facts for kids María Novaro
Born	María Luisa Novaro Peñaloza (1951-09-11)11 September 1951 Mexico City
Education	Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Mexico
Occupation	Film director, film producer, screenwriter, film editor

María Novaro (born María Luisa Novaro Peñaloza; September 11, 1951, in Mexico City) is a famous Mexican film director. She was one of the first women to graduate from a film school in Mexico. She has made five full-length movies (called feature films) and fourteen short films. In the Mexican film world, she has worked as a cinematographer (who films the movie), a sound mixer (who handles the sound), a director, a screenwriter (who writes the story), and an editor (who puts the film together).

Today, María Novaro is one of the most well-known Mexican filmmakers from the "New Mexican Cinema" movement. Her movies often show stories from a woman's point of view.

Learning and Early Films

María Novaro first studied sociology at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). Later, she became interested in filmmaking. She decided to study film at the Centro Universitario de Estudios Cinematográficos (CUEC), which is also part of UNAM.

In 1981, while at CUEC, she made her first short films. These included Lavaderos, Sobre las Olas, and De Encaje y Azúcar. She filmed all of them using a special Super 8 camera.

Later, she joined a group called Cine Mujer. This was a collective of women filmmakers. They wanted to tell women's stories and create more chances for women in the Mexican film industry. In this group, Novaro directed Es la Primera Vez in 1981.

Film Career

María Novaro began her career in the Mexican film industry as a cinematographer and sound mixer. After working as an assistant director for a film called Amor a la Vuelta de la Esquina (1985), she decided to make her own short film.

Her short film, Una Isla Rodeada de Agua (1985), was a new take on a famous Mexican novel. In this film, a young girl travels to the Guerrero coast. She is looking for her mother who left her. This idea of a female character on a journey through Mexico, searching for something or someone, became a common theme in Novaro's films.

Her next short film, Azul Celeste (1987), was about a pregnant woman looking for her baby's father in Mexico City. This story then became her first full-length movie, Lola (1989).

Feature Films

Lola (1989)

Novaro wrote Lola with her sister, Beatriz. The movie is named after its main character, Lola. It tells the story of a woman whose daughter's father has left them. Lola feels alone and without hope in the big city of Mexico City. She tries to find the father of her child.

Some critics thought Lola was too passive and couldn't get over being left alone. However, Novaro has said that she wanted to explore women, motherhood, and Mexico City in the film. She felt that Lola's strong emotions showed a real picture of a woman going through such a difficult time.

Danzón (1991)

After finishing Lola, Novaro wanted to make a lighter movie. She worked with her sister again to write Danzón (1991). This was María Novaro's second feature film.

A danzón is a special, elegant ballroom dance. Each dancer focuses on making perfect steps. They only make eye contact for a moment, like a playful game of courtship. Danzóns are danced to romantic songs in dance halls in Mexico. These places often have a 1940s and 1950s style.

The film follows Julia Solorzono (played by María Rojo), a single mother. Her only escape is dancing in the popular dance halls of Mexico City. When her usual dance partner, Carmelo, doesn't show up, she decides to travel to Veracruz, where he is from, to find him. This trip becomes a journey of self-discovery for Julia. She stops looking for Carmelo and enjoys life in Veracruz before returning to Mexico City. Danzón helped Novaro become well-known around the world.

Novaro added humor to the traditional Mexican melodrama style. She also explored themes of women and different lifestyles.

El Jardín del Edén (1994)

The Garden of Eden (1994) was filmed in Tijuana and areas near the border between Mexico and the United States. It was made with help from France and Canada. The film was shown at the Venice Festival in 1994 and was widely seen in Europe. It won several awards, including a Coral Prize in Havana. However, this film was not shown much in Mexican cinemas. This was because of a trade agreement that didn't protect films as a cultural product.

Sin Dejar Huella (2000)

Without Leaving a Trace (2000) is a "road movie." It was filmed during a long journey from Ciudad Juárez to the Mexican Caribbean coast. The movie stars Tiaré Scanda and Aitana Sánchez-Gijón. It was made with Spain and first shown in San Sebastián. It won the award for best Latin American film at the 2001 Sundance Festival. It also won audience awards at the Los Angeles Latino Festival and the Guadalajara Festival. The film also received two Ariel awards in Mexico for best photography and best special effects.

Las Buenas Hierbas (2010)

The Good Herbs (2010) stars Úrsula Pruneda, Ofelia Medina, and Ana Ofelia Murguía. It was first shown at the Rome Festival, where the three main actresses won the Best Female Performance Award together. In this film, Novaro deeply explored the relationships between mothers and daughters. It also touched on topics like Alzheimer's disease and ethnobotany (the study of how people use plants).

The film won eight Maguey awards at the Guadalajara Festival, including the audience award for best film. It also won two Ariel awards.

Tesoros (2017)

Tesoros (Treasures) was directed, written, produced, and edited by María Novaro. Released in 2017, this film was a new kind of movie for her. The story is about a six-year-old boy named Dylan. He loves playing pirate video games. One night, he dreams that the famous pirate Francis Drake tells him about a hidden treasure. Dylan and his new friends go on a fun treasure hunt. Their adventure takes them to beautiful islands off the coast.

The film starts with lovely views of a tropical forest and a deep blue sky. Dylan and his family move to Barra del Potosi, a charming beach community in Mexico. Tesoros is full of bright, warm colors. It uses blues, yellows, and reds to make the seascapes and houses look lively.

When asked about the different style of her new film, Novaro said she wanted to make a children's film that felt very real. She wanted the fantasy in the children's lives to be connected to the real world, as children in Mexico experience it. She chose to set the story in a beautiful, paradise-like place, even though it's in a state known for violence.

Short Films

One of Novaro's first short films, Una Isla Rodeada de Agua (1984), was bought by the Museum of Modern Art in New York for its collection. It also won an Ariel award for Best Fiction Short Film.

Azul Celeste (1987) is a 40-minute short film. It won the Golden Dancer Award for Best Film at the Huesca International Film Festival.

Other short films by Novaro include Sin Miedo (2010), La Morena (2004), and Otoñal (1995).

Legacy and Impact

María Novaro has said that filmmakers like Andrei Tarkovsky, Michelangelo Antonioni, and Theodoros Angelopoulos inspired her. She sees her film stories as poetry, not just drama. She believes it's important for a director to hear their "own voice" in their films.

While Novaro doesn't call herself a "feminist," her characters are often strong women who are aware of their gender. Her films often show themes like motherhood, female friendships, and absent men. This often leads the main female characters to seek help and guidance from other women.

Novaro has also said that in each film, she tries to tell stories about the many different parts of Mexico. She writes the scripts for all her films. Three of them were written with her sister, Beatriz Novaro. She has also worked as an editor and producer.

Since 1996, she has had a successful career teaching film. She has taught courses and workshops at many universities and film centers in Mexico and the United States. She has helped train many new filmmakers in Mexico.

In 2006, she helped start a production company called Axolote Cine. This company has produced several films by young filmmakers. Axolote Cine also produced her film Las Buenas Hierbas. For her most recent film, Tesoros, she founded another production house called Cine Ermitaño.

María Novaro has received many honors for her work. These include the Guggenheim Scholarship (2005) and the Rockefeller-MacArthur Scholarship (1992–93). She is also a member of important film academies in the USA, Spain, and Mexico. Her work has been celebrated with special showings and tributes around the world.

María Novaro has three children (Mara, Santiago, and Lucero) and three grandchildren (Andrea, Dylan, and Jacinta). She often includes them in her biography.

Awards and Nominations

Filmography

Feature Films

Short Films

See also

In Spanish: María Novaro para niños