Latinas/os in Documentary Filmmaking: Issues of Representation, Funding, and Opportunity

In the fall of 2018, the Voces Oral History Project at the University of Texas at Austin conducted individual oral history interviews and a public roundtable discussion with eleven award-winning Latina/o documentarians from a wide range of professional positions, filmmaking experiences, and career paths. This article uses those interviews and roundtable discussion as its primary source and oral history as its primary methodology. The purpose of this article is to provide a summary and analysis of the following major themes that arose: lack of representation of Latinas/os in documentaries and behind the camera; scarcity of opportunity for Latina/o filmmakers; the function and responsibility of documentary film, specifically in regard to Latina/o communities; and access to private and public funding and distribution, specifically in regard to the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). This article first provides a brief history of the origins of Latinas/os in documentary filmmaking beginning with the 1960s Chicano Movement, then discusses the role of Latina/o filmmakers' work in relation to activism, journalism, and representation, then briefly presents the role of PBS in Latina/o filmmaking, and lastly focuses on the negotiations this group of Latina/o filmmakers must make in order to create the stories they want to tell.