Varela, Willie.

Biography

A prolific and noted Super-8 filmmaker, programmer, and advocate. In the 1970s and early 1980s, Varela's extensive public programming as founder and director of SWAMP-El Paso (Southwestern Alternative Media Project) became the subject of a bitter censorship struggle, receiving national attention. Since the mid-1980s, his work has become increasingly political and since 1992 he has turned to Hi-8 video as well as narrative. Throughout his career, Varela's work has explored social space and cultural identity from the perspective of a deeply historical understanding of both experimental film/video and Chicano culture in South Texas.