Karla Legaspy on Gloria Anzaldúa

Credits

Director: Sabine Sighicelli
Editor: Katy Skjerping
Producer: Kim Ray
Cinematographer: Sevdije Kastrati-Dill
Sound: Nancy Kwon
Second Camera: Andressa Cor
DIT: Antonetta Kastrati
PA: Im-Sun Song
Post Supervisor: Courtney Graham
Color: Sevdije Kastrati-Dill
Dialogue Editor: Daniel Raphael

Topics

“SHE was a fearless revolutionary thinker.”

GLORIA ANZALDÚA was profoundly affected by her childhood growing up in the Rio Grande Valley on the border of Texas and Mexico. Originally wealthy landowners, her family lost much of their land due to a combination of challenges and eventually were forced into farm work. As Anzaldúa lived and toiled alongside migrant workers, she began to identify with their heritage and lived experience. This awakening provided the genesis of a life-long exploration of the complex intersections of her history, culture, and identity. Her book Borderlands/La Frontera, is used today in college courses on feminist and Chicana literature and history. Through her writing and teaching, Anzaldúa influenced thousands of young people exploring the threads of their own ethnic, racial, sexual and cultural identities.

Storyteller

Karla Legaspy

Founder of Kitzo Productions, Karla Legaspy is a MeXICANA filmmaker raised in East Los Angeles. Her film career started with the Sundance selected film Pura Lengua, which followed with Karla acting, producing and now writing/directing her own content. She is a two-time awardee of the Latino Public Broadcasting Public Media Content Fund. Karla is proud of her many creative collaborations with artist, community and organizations. Her creative spectrum of work crosses borders, time and genres with themes on race, class, sexual orientation, trauma, artivism, ceremonial work and queer love. Karla’s is known for her PBS audience award winning film “Gold Star” playing on PBS platforms. As a producer, Karla has been able to support numerous projects that bring forth the queer/trans brown experience. She is the producer of the acclaimed series “Undocumented Tales: Season 3” now playing on YouTube. Her latest LPB film “The Daily War” will broadcast this summer on the PBS Latino Experience. As an active member of the queer Latinx community she Co-founded and is programming director of The Latin@ Queer Arts and Film Festival/Cine Arte Film Festival. Karla envisions her work as the best tool for activism and her contribution to empowering her communities.

Featured Woman

Gloria Anzaldúa

Gloria Anzaldúa was a Chicana author, poet, and activist who made significant contributions to feminist, LGBTQ+, and Chicano studies. Born in Texas in 1942, Anzaldúa grew up in a family that experienced poverty and discrimination as Mexican-Americans. She went on to earn a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in English, and later a PhD in literature. Her most famous work, “Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza,” was selected by Library Journal as one of the best books of 1987. It is a seminal work that explores issues of identity, culture, and borderlands. Anzaldúa’s writing challenged traditional ideas of language and identity, and her work helped to create new ways of thinking about race, gender, and sexuality. Anzaldúa was also an active member of the LGBTQ+ community and advocated for LGBTQ+ rights in her work. She passed away in 2004, but her legacy continues to inspire generations of writers and activists.