Lupe Velez was the original “Mexican spitfire.” Las Tres Muertes de Lupe (1984, 5:20 mins, originally shot on Super-8), a lusty and whimsical meditation on her death, prefigures many of Ximena Cuevas's coming concerns. In this episodic glimpse into the tortured loneliness of the legendary star, Cuevas debunks the romantic necessity of celebrity and, by extension, the place of dreamy romance in her own life. A decade later, she again assaults hyperbolic heartbreak in Corazon Sangrante (Bleeding Heart) (1993, 3:42 mins), in which torch singer Astrid Hadad dons the garments of mock martyrdom. Medias Mentiras (Half-Lies) (1995, 37 mins) is a plaintive pastiche that navigates the chaotic whirl of contemporary Mexican culture. Melding zany animation, diaristic footage, and remnants from television, Cuevas's video poem searches for authenticity amidst the machinery of social construction. Cuevas's daring search continues in the phenomenal La Tombola (2002, 7:50 mins) as she infiltrates a trash talk show on Mexican television. Over the spectacle of humiliation, Cuevas declares that she is interested “in people who are interested in their own lives.” Also included: Antes de la Television (Before Television) (1983, 1:15 mins) and Staying Alive (2001, 3 mins).