Matilde Landeta

Matilde Soto Landeta (September 20, 1910 or 1913 – January 26, 1999) was born in Mexico City to a wealthy family. She was a pioneer in her field due to the fact that she was the first female filmmaker and screenwriter during the Golden Age of Mexican cinema. Her films focused on the portrayal of strong, realistic female protagonists in a patriarchal world.

After the passing of her mother when she was three years of age, Landeta moved to San Luis, Potosí where she would be raised by her aunt and grandmother. She then moved back to Mexico City where she continued her studies in a monastery for Dominican mothers. Her love for film was born when she watched the film Old San Francisco during a trip to the United States.

In 1931, Matilde Landeta's brother, Eduardo Landeta, began his career as an actor when he got hired to play a secondary character on a film directed by Arcady Boytler. Matilde's love for film kept her coming back to visit her brother on set. During one of her visits, Miguel Zacarias offered her a job as a make-up artist. However, he saw that she was eager for more. In 1932, Miguel decided to give Matilde a chance as script supervisor. Due to her gender, she had to prove that she was capable to do the job when applying for the position of assistant director. She was forced to reach out to the Sindicato de Trabajadores de la Produccion Cinematografica in order to get the job. In 1945 she became assistant director and worked with many well known directors at the time. These included Emilio Fernández, Julio Bracho, and Roberto Gavaldón.

From there, she went ahead and began the process of becoming a Director herself. However, despite having worked in the industry for many years, she received no support when it came to her career as a filmmaker. Production companies would refuse to help her finance her film and the labor union refused to back her up as well.

...
Wikipedia