Frida

Frida is a 2002 biographical film which depicts the passionately professional and private life of the surrealist Mexican painter Frida Kahlo. It stars Salma Hayek in her Academy Award nominated portrayal as Kahlo and Alfred Molina as her husband, Diego Rivera.

The movie was adapted by Clancy Sigal, Diane Lake, Gregory Nava, Anna Thomas and Edward Norton (uncredited) from the book Frida: A Biography of Frida Kahlo by Hayden Herrera. It was directed by Julie Taymor. It won Oscars for Best Makeup and Best Original Music Score (receipient: Elliot Goldenthal).

Filming

Filming took place from April 7 through June 2001 and was shot entirely in Mexico.

Among the on location places shot were three UNESCO world heritage sites: Teotihuacan, Xochimilco, and Puebla's historic centre. Other on location sites include Rivera and Kahlo's Juan O'Gorman designed San Ángel studio home and the San Idelfonso National Preparatory School. Replicas of Casa Azul (Kahlo's Coyacan home) and RCA Building's lobby were built at Churubusco Studios in Mexico City and shot in Stage 4 of said studios.

For scenes depicting Diego completing a mural, crew members stretched a canvas across a scaffold placed in front of the painter's actual artwork. This "makeshift 'mural'" included sketched outlines and painted portions. The optical "illusion" of a work in progress was achieved through the canvas "flattened" by a camera shooting from a distance and therefore "blending" the edges into the fixed mural.

Salma Hayek wore over fifty costumes as Frida. Some pieces were purchased from street vendors in Mexico City.

Cast

• Salma Hayek - Frida Kahlo
• Alfred Molina - Diego Rivera
• Geoffrey Rush - Leon Trotsky
• Mía Maestro - Cristina Kahlo
• Ashley Judd - Tina Modotti
• Antonio Banderas - David Alfaro Siqueiros
• Edward Norton - Nelson Rockefeller
• Amelia Zapata - Maid
• Alejandro Usigli - Professor
• Diego Luna - Alejandro Gonzalez Arias