BLOG BITE: Raquel Cepeda, Director of LA MADRINA: THE [SAVAGE] LIFE OF LORINE PADILLA

In LA MADRINA: THE [SAVAGE] LIFE OF LORINE PADILLA, writer, producer and director Raquel Cepeda, a native New Yorker stays close to home, chronicling five decades of history through the eyes of Lorine Padilla, a beloved South Bronx matriarch and former “First Lady” of the Savage Skulls gang, as she struggles to remain visible in a rapidly gentrifying community that she helped rebuild in the 1980s.

SFF Selection Committee Member Kereth Cowe-Spigai, caught up with Cepeda, a self described "proud as f*ck dominiyorker" ahead of her film's New England Premiere.

Kereth Cowe-Spigai: Filmmaking can involve periods of travel and being away from home. When you're on the road shooting, what do you miss most about home? Conversely, when you are at home, what do you miss most about being on the road shooting?

Raquel Cepeda: In the kind-of recent past, before Covid, what I missed most was not training at my home boxing gym: Mendez Boxing. I feel most creative when I'm in my city, and generally, aside from my husband and kids, I just always miss New York almost as soon as I leave her. What I love most about traveling, aside from experiencing new things and learning different perspectives is the sojourn in itself. Someone I met in Morocco once told me that when God created humanity, S/He replicated us 40 times so that the compulsion to seek one another out was baked into our DNA. That is an idea I feel on many levels.

Lorine Padilla and Raquel Cepeda during filming of LA MADRINA: THE [SAVAGE] LIFE OF LORINE PADILLA

KC-S: Think back to when you embarked on your first film project. If you could give your past self one piece of advice about film, what would it be?

RC: I would have also been more proactive about hiring a good lawyer from the jump -— development to release — because, wow. And I would have advised myself to think about partnerships. I would have also strongly advised my past self to listen and trust more in my intuition.

KC-S: This question is optional and totally off-topic: A fun way to get to know a person is to eat their favorite food. What's yours? Share a recipe if you feel so inclined!

RC: I love breakfast for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. My favorite staple is green plantains or platanos, They are cheap, easy, and filling. Sometimes, when I don't have a lot of time in the morning, I will just peel and throw one in a pot, boil it, and mash it with butter, a little bit of hot water, and olive oil. That's called mangu. I usually top it off with sauteed red onions with vinegar, and half of an avocado.

Lorine Padilla with US Congressman Ritchie Torres walking through the Bronx.

LA MADRINA: THE [SAVAGE] LIFE OF LORINE PADILLA streams as part of Salem Film Fest from Friday, March 19 - Sunday, March 28. Tickets to view the film can be purchased here.