Gloria Schoemann

Gloria Schoemann
Born	24 July 1910 Mexico City, Mexico
Died	1 September 2006 Mexico City, Mexico
Occupation	Editor
Years active	1942 - 1983 (film)

Overview

Gloria Schoemann (1910–2006) was an incredibly prolific editor in Mexico’s film industry. Her 45 year career from 1942 – 1983 spanned many influential moments in the development of Mexico’s national cinema including The Golden Age and Mexico’s “Nuevo Cine” (New Cinema) in the 1970s and 80’s. During her career Gloria edited over 200 films, received 11 award nominations and was the recipient of 5 awards and distinctions.^[1]

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Early Life

Gloria was born in Mexico City, Mexico to parents Alfredo Schoemann and Natalia Vargas. The middle child of three siblings, Gloria had an older brother named Alfredo “Tello” and a younger sister, Rosa. Gloria’s early life was marked by tragedy. At the age of 5 Gloria was orphaned. Her father Alfredo, a German businessman living in Mexico, traveled frequently for work and one day failed to return. A year later, Gloria’s mother fell ill and eventually passed away. The children were then cared for by their maternal grandmother and Aunts.^[2]

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Career

Summarize

Perspective

At the age of 20 Gloria moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in the Hollywood film industry. In her early days in Los Angeles, Gloria worked as a shorthand typist as well as an extra in background roles in Hollywood films. Gloria eventually landed a supporting role in a film alongside actor José Mojica, whom she would later collaborate with in her editing career.^[2]

Gloria moved back to Mexico where she continued working in film. While Gloria was working as an actor on Chano Urueta’s film Men of the Sea she first encountered a Moviola machine and was inspired to start leaning the art of editing. Gloria began learning editing from Emilio Gómez Muriel and while transitioning into her career as an editor, she collaborated uncredited with Muriel on many films while she honed her skills.^[2]

Schoemann then went on to work as an editor on an astounding number of films in Mexico, working with many notable filmmakers including Emilio Fernández, Luis Buñuel, Julio Bracho, Miguel M. Delgado, Gilberto Martínez Solares, Roberto Gavaldón and Alejandro Galindo.^[1] Schoemann was nominated for the Ariel Award for Best Editing eleven times and won the award three times. Her three wins were for Enamorada (1947), El niño y la niebla (1954), and La rebelión de los colgados (1955). She also won the Salvador Toscano Medal in 1993 and was awarded the Special Golden Ariel in 2004.^[3]

Legacy and Quotes

After winning the Salvador Toscano Medal Gloria is quoted as saying, “I always loved the cinema, I saw everything, so I realized the good and the bad; I never sat down to watch a movie from the point of view of my work. I have given myself completely to it. And the editing work is hard, but for me it is the most exciting, interesting and important aspect of the cinema.”^[1]

Despite Gloria’s significant contributions to Mexican cinema, like many women of her generation, her legacy is not as celebrated as it should be. Gloria’s career spanned many decades, and she worked on an unusually high number of films but today there is little written about Gloria and her work.

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Overview

Early Life

Career

Legacy and Quotes

Selected filmography

References

Bibliography

External links

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