Señorita Extraviada
2002, NR, 74 min. Directed by Lourdes Portillo.
REVIEWED By Marjorie Baumgarten, Tue., Aug. 6, 2002
Señorita Extraviada (Missing Young Woman) is the latest project from Oscar-nominated filmmaker Lourdes Portillo. Her film investigates the disturbing 12-years-and-still-counting mystery of the disappearance, rape, and murder of more than 270 young women - mostly maquilladora workers - in the Mexican town of Juarez, just across the border from El Paso. All slender, dark-skinned, and long-haired, the woman began disappearing in 1990, all victims of brutal murders and mutilations, and the killer is still at large. Portillo's film is a poetic meditation on the situation as well as a documentary look at the efforts of the families and police to solve the crimes, and the layers of corruption, confusion, fear, and desperation that cloud the ongoing investigation.
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Jessi Cape, April 12, 2024
Señorita Extraviada, Lourdes Portillo
