Join us in congratulating Lotte van Raalte, one of the recipients of the $5,000 PhotoVogue Festival Grant for the global open call ‘The Tree of Life: a Love Letter to Nature.’
Lotte van Raalte, one of the videomakers selected to participate in the main exhibition at the PhotoVogue Festival in March 2025, created a project centered around Evelyn, Alicia, and Frida—three women fighting for themselves, and for past and future generations of women. Through a powerful use of their bodies, seen and perceived as porous systems interconnected with the surrounding environment, van Raalte narrates a story where women speak up for themselves. They preserve within them the silenced voices of all the women who couldn’t speak up in the past, remembering and cherishing their legacy. Women’s bodies are depicted as crossroads of different stories, future hopes, and present struggles. “Guerreras” is a sensorial and introspective hymn about resistance and the evolving harmony we can find within ourselves and among other living beings. The grant will provide van Raalte with valuable support in developing her future projects and deepening her research.
What inspired you to create this film?
After I graduated from the Royal Academy of Arts in The Hague I went on a solo trip to Mexico, Peru, and Bolivia. When I arrived in Mexico City I felt an unexpected feeling of “home”. Until this day I don’t have a rational explanation for it. It was something about the people, the colors, the culture as if I had been there before.
Years later I decided to go back. I’d always wanted to do an artist residency, so in 2018 I traveled back to Mexico and stayed in Oaxaca City. The initial plan was to write a short film, but in those 3 weeks, I didn’t write anything. However I did a lot of workshops; from working with clay, dance, cooking, and natural dyeing while meeting incredible women. When I got back to the Netherlands I felt like something inside of me had changed.
A month later I was listening to a song on the train that I had heard in Mexico during a dance practice. Suddenly it hit me; I needed to create a film about these women, as if the visuals for this story were downloaded into my brain. Little did I know this was the beginning of an immense journey.
What was the process of selecting the three protagonists, Evelyn, Alicia, and Frida? Why did you choose to focus on young Mexican women?
The first two thoughts that entered my mind soon after I had this epiphany were “Why?” and “What’s the story? You don’t have any script.”
My photography work already revolved around women and the female body. And apparently, this made people label me as a feminist. I had already had my questions around terms such as female empowerment and I started to wonder “But what does that mean? What does it mean to be a strong woman?” Intuitively I felt that some of the women I met in Oaxaca were holding the answers to that question. Soon after I started to have conversations with them via phone about their connection to their roots, ancestors, rituals, nature, their cycle, creativity, and spirituality.
I met Evelyn and Alicia during my residency in 2018. I immediately fell in love with them: their spirits, beauty, art, and how they viewed the world. I hadn’t seen a dancer so pure and free before; Evelyn dances from her soul, her spirit. She taught me a lot about water and the stories we carry in our bodies. Alicia is another magical being, full of wisdom and power. I vividly remember seeing her during Dia de Los Muertos and was completely hypnotized by her performance. Alicia works with clay (the earth). She often does rituals with her figurative artworks while honoring her ancestors, her cycle, and the elements. I learned about motherhood, our roots, and the importance of rituals from her. Last but not least, I met Frida through a friend of mine. The youngest of all three. Very smart, vibrant, and beautiful. She has a lot of humor and is interested in architecture but works as a performance artist with subjects around the body and women. Since she couldn’t speak English and my Spanish was still very limited, we communicated mostly through body language.
What were some of the biggest challenges you faced during the production of this film?
There were so many – I don’t even know where to start. It was my first time producing and directing a film. In a country on the other side of the world, in a language that I could barely speak. Since I produced it from my savings we were with a very small crew doing multiple things at once. I still remember running around town looking for clothes and the right props while having contact with my local producer about locations and my assistant Luna Arboleda regarding the cast. Secondly, we were there during the “dry season”, but the weather unexpectedly changed as soon as we arrived. The storm that erupted during most afternoons proved to be the perfect symbol for the essence of the narrative; it was a turning point in my life, and soon after I got back home I realized I wasn’t only making a film about these Mexican women, I was transforming myself.
The film s script isn’t a typical narrative, so it turned out to be quite challenging to find the right rhythm in terms of editing. I wanted the film to be an intense experience - where time almost doesn’t exist - without losing the words of wisdom you hear in the voice-over. The editor Annelien van Wijnbergen spent many hours with me, but in the end, we both think it paid off. Then the next challenge I threw myself into was working on the sound design with Maluz Orozco for which I went back to Mexico for more than 5 weeks. When this incredible process was finished and the grading was done I learned so much about all the technical aspects of film. And just when I thought I was completely done, the festival submissions started... a whole new learning experience! When I look back at it, it’s quite crazy how and why I decided to do all of the different aspects myself, but at the same time, I learned so much. It feels like I went to film school for 4 years.
Can you describe the experimental personal process you underwent to find your own voice as a filmmaker?
I didn’t realize until we started the edit that I was not only making a film about these women for other women; the film (process) changed me into the woman I wanted to become. I took a deep dive through many different experiences related to dance, movement, meditation, intergenerational trauma, and voice liberation. The most complex and profound aspect was finding my voice through. A year after filming I decided to go back to Tepoztlan in Mexico to work on the sound design and undergo a deeper personal process through instrumental therapy and using my own voice. I worked with several musicians and their beautiful instruments right next to me, sometimes even on top of my body. I meditated, danced, sang, and screamed. After interweaving this sound experiment into the film, the story felt complete.
In what ways do you hope the film will empower women and give them back their voices?
The original plan was to produce Guerreras at the beginning of 2020 but when Covid happened we had to cancel our plans. This resulted in a very different life with many quiet hours at home and spending more time in solitude and nature. As I slowly found new wisdom in silence I felt like I wanted to include this into the film.
I remember so clearly when I asked Alicia over the phone about her relationship with silence. She gave me a very unexpected answer which became one of the most important parts of the film. “Silence to me is deleting the power that women have.”
Until that point, she never spoke about the abuse that she experienced in her past. And of course, more and more stories came up soon after. I realized that behind (these) strong women, there’s often a lot of pain and intergenerational trauma. And this is not an issue in just Mexico, it still happens all over the world. Although I knew I needed to include this in the film, I didn’t want to create a film just from a victim s perspective. It includes trauma, anger, and pain (which are very important to express), but it mostly shows us our strength and the way to balance through looking at all of the incredible qualities we as women, as human beings, have.
One of my favorite sentences in the film from Evelyn is “My body is full of stories of other women.” Even though our individual stories might seem different, there’s a big connection between all women. And I knew I had to find my voice (and those of my ancestors) before giving it back to others. Through this process - as I mentioned before - I understood so much better how we’re part of nature, the elements, and life cycles. How to listen to my body, to dance from my soul and move without thinking. To use my voice without fear. To speak up for myself, as well as others. That I am enough, we’re all enough, even though you can’t make everyone around you happy or agree all the time. How to practice functioning from intuition and the heart and less fear or ego. To experience both masculine and feminine energy, which all of us have. This is how I hope the film will empower both women and men because the biggest message of the film is that when we transcend all of this, none of these labels matter. In the end, we’re all just spirits coming from one source: love.
What impact do you hope the film will have on future generations, both in terms of awareness and action?
The film can be experienced at rational, emotional, and spiritual levels. My purpose is to take the viewer on an immersive journey, touching on several intertwined issues. To acknowledge our troubled past and empower women, give back their voice. To ultimately transition into a world balanced with nature, each other, and ourselves. It’s not only about my journey or my protagonists – it’s a film from generations of women for all women and future generations.
The film is not a typical documentary, it’s more like a mantra, a poem that you can watch over and over again. Even now there are parts that I perceive differently. It’s a constant reminder to myself guiding me through different chapters in my life, which I hope will give the same to people all over the world. I don’t know if I see this film directly linked to action. Maybe it’s the exact opposite: a journey inward, into our subconscious, and from there hopefully we can see profound changes in how we relate to others, to nature, and to ourselves.
Are there any future projects you are considering that build on the themes explored in this film?
During the making of Guerreras, I felt a strong desire to learn more about (fiction) filmmaking. After I released the film at the beginning of 2023, I took an 8-week screenwriting course. I wanted to understand the film structures better and have basic knowledge of how to write a script with scenes and dialogues. I started writing a script for a short fiction film and a synopsis for a feature film about different generations of women and our relationship with nature. Following advice from those around me, I submitted this film idea to a script contest organized by a production company seeking film ideas related to our current climate crisis. The phone call several months later, announcing that I had won the contest, was the best news I received last year. It shattered my self-doubt and affirmed that I was on the right path. Together with co-writer Lenina Ungari, we started doing a lot of research on female storytelling throughout history and our complex relationship with the natural world. We’ve just finished the very first draft of the feature film and will continue to work on it over the next year(s).
