January 2, 1997

Film Screening of Ana Coyne Alonso Films about Nicaragua

at Twilight

The Middlebury College Latin American studies program,

film/video, social sciences division, Spanish department, and women’s studies,

recently presented a film screening, “White Dresses and Other Short

Films About Nicaragua,” by writer/director Ana Coyne Alonso.

Ms. Alonso is a filmmaker whose work focuses on Nicaragua.

Half-Nicaraguan, half-North American, she was born and spent her early

childhood in Nicaragua, but completed her education in the United States.

She received a B.A. in history from Dartmouth College, an M.S. from the

Columbia School of Journalism, and studied film at the University of California,

San Diego, with cinematographer and filmmaker Babette Mangolte and director

Jean-Pierre Gorin.

Ms. Alonso has written, directed and produced five short

films which are currently being screened in various national and international

festivals, art galleries and museums, including the Modern Museum of Art

in New York and the Boston Museum of Fine Art. Her last film, “White

Dresses,” received the 1995 Cary Grant Film Award of the Princess

Grace Awards for emerging artists. She calls her work “interpretive”

filmmaking—films utilizing both documentary and narrative strategies to

convey meaning. Her films tell stories about Nicaragua from a woman’s perspective.

Each film attempts to understand the complex intersection of history, politics,

religion, class and culture within Nicaragua in a way that reflects a larger

context as well.