Nato a San Diego, ha vissuto a Tijuana. Dopo il diploma conseguito nel 1977 al “California Institute of the Arts”, ha iniziato a lavorare come regista, sceneggiatore e produttore in pellicole che hanno per tema i conflitti sociali, culturali e politici delle realtà latino americane.
Ripetutamente premiato per i documentari sulla comunità “chicana”, nel 1988 ha diretto Break of a Down, il suo primo lungometraggio che è stato selezionato per i Festival di Mosca e di Toronto.
Isaac Artenstein ha prodotto numerosi lavori di altri registi, come In the name of the People (1985) sulla guerra civile in El Salvador e Mi otro yo (1988).Ha collaborato con artisti celebri,incanalandosi verso le videoinstallazioni e la videoarte.
Carriera Cinematografica
Produttore:
. Un giorno senza messicani (2004) (produttore)
[] alias "A Day Without a Mexican" - USA (titolo originale)
. El grito (2002) (coproduttore)
. Love Always (1996) (produttore)
Regista:
. Tijuana Jews (2005)
. Break of Dawn (1988) (TV)
Sceneggiatore:
. Tijuana Jews (2005)
. Break of Dawn (1988) (TV)
Video Arte
Border Brujo
Isaac Artenstein, Guillermo Gómez-Peña
1990 | 00:52:00 | United States | English / Spanish | Color | Mono | 4:3
-VIDEO. [http://www.vdb.org/titles/border-brujo]
Sitting at an altar decorated with a kitsch collection of cultural fetish items, and wearing a border patrolman’s jacket decorated with buttons, bananas, beads, and shells, Gómez-Peña delivers a sly and bitter indictment of U.S. colonial attitudes toward Mexican culture and history. Whirling through various Mexican American stereotypes, pulling on costumes as easily as accents, Gómez-Peña emphasizes the collision of Mexican and American cultures, their mixture and misunderstanding of each other, each appearing as a dream/nightmare reflection of the “Other.” In turns powerful and playful, Border Brujo poignantly illustrates the double edge of forced cultural occupation.
Director: Isaac Artenstein
This title is also available on Border Art Clásicos (1990-2005): An Anthology of Collaborative Video Works by Guillermo Gómez-Peña.
Son of Border Crisis
Isaac Artenstein, Guillermo Gómez-Peña
| United States | English | Color | Stereo | 4:3
-VIDEO. [http://www.vdb.org/titles/son-border-crisis]
In these seven short video performances directed by Isaac Artenstein, Gómez-Peña confronts Mexican-American culture clashes, stereotypes, and the Fourth World (immigrants). Speaking through a bullhorn or on the airwaves of mock-station Radio Latino FM, he broadcasts a message that will not be silenced. He delivers such comic comparisons as between “tacos without salsa” and “art without ideas” and such pointed statements as “thanks to marketing and not to civil rights, we are the new generation.” The taped monologues include Son of Border Crisis, El Post-Mojado, The Mexican Fly, Dear Californian, Employer Sanctions, The Year of the Yellow Spider, and The Year of the Hispanic.
This title is also available on Border Art Clásicos (1990-2005): An Anthology of Collaborative Video Works by Guillermo Gómez-Peña.
