Lulu en el jardín (2020)

This documentary recounts the saga of Lourdes Benavides and her family’s many attempts to cure her of her lesbian desires as a teenager. Queering the archive through found footage, first person accounts and extensive research into Chicago-Read Mental Health Center, this intimate and experimental documentary uncovers the deeply personal story of Lulu’s struggles with her identity after migrating from Mexico City to Chicago’s westside during the 1970s. From intersecting histories of institutional racism, homophobia and sexism comes the voice of a tenacious Latina and her queer son’s journey to retrace his mother’s steps and treatment across a city.