“I never paint dreams or nightmares. I paint my own reality” — Frida Kahlo

It is impossible to consider the history of Latin American art without acknowledging the enormous legacy of Frida Kahlo. This Mexican artist, born in 1907, combined elements of classical painting with popular Indigenous culture and folk art to produce an expressive, magic-realist style all her own. Since her death in 1954, she has become an icon not just for her pioneering, feminist work, but also for her radical politics, colorful style and dramatic life story.

British director Ali Ray’s captivating new bio-doc (made for the popular Exhibition on Screen series) features an impressive roster of academics, art historians, gallerists and Kahlo’s official biographer, Hayden Herrera. Kahlo’s life was one of great suffering and pain, but it was also full of passion, and a fierce ambition in conjunction with a deep love of painting and her native country of Mexico. Displaying a treasure trove of color and a feast of vibrancy on screen, this personal and intimate film offers privileged access to her works, including insights provided by world-renowned Kahlo experts.

Frida Kahlo highlights the source of her feverish creativity, her resilience and her unmatched lust for life, men, women, politics as well as her cultural heritage, by painting its own portrait of an artist charting her own course.

Ali Ray  |  United Kingdom  |  2020  |  90 mins.