Frida, Viva La Vida

So much has been written and filmed about iconic Mexican artist and pioneer feminist Frida Kahlo that one wonders if there is anything new to be said. Well, director Giovanni Troilo takes an original tack: by filming in the vibrant Mexican locations that informed her work and life, Troilo gives us entry into an influential aspect of Kahlo’s worldview that has been underexplored until now. The result is a rich tapestry that both entertains and informs.

‘[The] film… is a six-chapter itinerary in search of this pop icon, taking us to the heart of Kahlo’s Mexican homeland, by way of exclusive interviews, documents from the time, reconstructions and works by the artist herself… All the pieces of the puzzle are put together through extraordinary testimonials. It’s an exuberant montage, composed of stock clips and a graphic pop-art style awash with the colours of Mexico, which takes us all the way to Tehuantepec in Oaxaca, to the desert of San Luis Potosí, and on to Tepoztlan.’—Camillo De Marco, Cineuropa