Guerrilleras is a documentary film and photography project about the Salvadoran Civil War (1980-1992) from a gender point of view: women’s experience in the guerrilla. 

Through memories collected twenty years after the war had ended, this work aims at preserving historical memory and shedding light on the women who participated in this armed conflict. 

Directed and produced by Rebecka Bíró & Victoria Montero.

Awards

FotoPres

Photography project Guerrilleras was awarded in the 19º edition of FotoPres contest, organized by La Caixa Foundation in Spain.

Olof Palme Foundation

Documentary film project Guerrilleras awarded under the Olof Palme Memorial Fund for International Understanding and Common Security in Sweden.

The Book

Guerrilleras. Tradition and Rebellion in the Salvadoran Civil War is a documentary photo-book that compiles original photography with the testimonies of five former guerrilla women from rural regions of El Salvador, such as Chalatenango, Morazán, and Guazapa. Prologue by former guerrilla fighter Morena Herrera, Salvadoran social activist, noted for her work against ban on abortion.
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The Film

Guerrilleras tells the story of 14 women that were involved in the guerrilla during the civil war in El Salvador. These voices represent the antithesis of what is known as "The 14 families", the few thousand people who, in a country of more than 6 million, make up El Salvador's oligarchy. Through their personal experience we learn the reasons that drove them to join the guerrilla, focusing on how this involvement impacted on a traditionally male chauvinist society. The following video was done as part of the pre-production research. Guerrilleras is currently on post-production stage.

The Exhibition

Guerrilleras was presented at FotoPres exhibition in Madrid, Barcelona, and Zaragoza (Spain) in 2015/2016. It was also part of "Faces, Spaces and Genres" at Acción Latina gallery (San Francisco, CA), in 2016. In 2017 was exhibited at the Community Media Center of Marin (San Rafael, CA) as a solo show, as well as in the Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts (San Francisco, CA) in 2018.

"In one way or another, traumas may still be hurting us. I’m here at home, an A-37 flies by and it’s like going back to that time: I expect bombs to fall down. I still have nightmares, it’s exactly the same picture as if I were back in 1985 in the middle of the war."

“Altagracia” - Former combatant and political leader