I know that you connected with members of the Kahlo family while making Frida. Tell me about how their participation shaped the documentary and your creative process.
We had the pleasure and the honor of connecting with two family members: Cristina and Billy Kahlo, who were the daughter and son of Guillermo Kahlo, who was the son of Frida’s sister. The interesting thing is that Frida’s father was a photographer, and his grandson [Guillermo] is also a photographer. There’s something about the family genes that creates artists.
Cristina Kahlo is also an amazing photographer, but she’s been focused on taking the time to really study what happened to Frida in a physical way, like how her body made her who she was. As a family member, she was able to go to the hospital where Frida had a lot of surgeries. We got access to a lot of previous physical records of Frida’s thanks to Cristina. And Cristina had help. Many museums around the world have curated exhibitions that actually deal with Frida’s body. Cristina became a consultant in the film and it was really special to sit with her and Frida’s family.
In my opinion, part of what makes Frida special is its exploration of Kahlo’s sexuality. Why was it important to you to capture that part of who she was?
Frida never really talks about her queerness, she just lives it. She had a need to be loved, not only by Diego, but other people. [Frida] craved that connection, and she sought after that pleasure and desire. We saw it in her letters, and we see it in the art. She was very, very public about it, but not in a way that was, like, trying to be public about it for shock value. I love that about Frida, and we really wanted to defend that. And I think that that’s one of the reasons why she’s become such an important feminist symbol and queer symbol for all of us. She just exuded love. We didn’t want to just list her lovers—we wanted to give life to this desire and have the audience feel it.
What do you want viewers to take away from Frida?
