POV, Global Voices
Señorita Extraviada (Missing Young Woman)
The remains of sexually assaulted girls were found in the desert in Mexico. The families will not rest until these crimes are solved.
The Devil Never Sleeps
A story about family secrets is revealed when Lourdes Portillo travels to Mexico to learn the truth about her wealthy uncle’s death.
- Series
- Global Voices
- Premiere Date
- September 30, 1997
- Length
- 60 minutes
- Funding Initiative
- Open Call
Producer
Lourdes Portillo
Lourdes Portillo has lived in the U.S. since 1960. Her credits include the Oscar-nominated documentary feature, Las Madres: The Mothers Of The Plaza De Mayo, as well as La Ofrenda: The Days Of The Dead; Columbus On Trial; Mirrors Of The Heart for the PBS series, Americas; The Devil Never Sleeps for Independent Lens; Corpus: A Home Movie For Selena and Senorita Extraviada… Show more
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The Film
The Devil Never Sleeps is a “whodunit” documentary about family secrets. Filmmaker Lourdes Portillo received a phone call informing her of the mysterious death of her wealthy Mexican uncle Oscar. Officially ruled a suicide, Portillo’s relatives claimed murder, offering several possible suspects including a business partner, a ranch hand, and Oscar’s young widow who stood to inherit everything.
Traveling to Mexico, Portillo attempts to learn the truth about her powerful uncle. Using interviews, old snapshots and home movies, she finds a complicated web of family secrets, intrigue, rumor and betrayal that makes her enigmatic uncle’s murder seem ever more likely, yet ever more obscure. As the Mexican saying goes, “When evil is lurking, the devil never sleeps.”
