Sylvia Morales

Born in Phoenix, Arizona Sylvia Morales began directing, writing, and directing short narrative television in 1971 when she started working for Channel 7. Before that, she directed, wrote, produced and edited award winning and nationally recognized film and video documentary work on topics ranging from the farm worker's struggle to the music of Los Lobos.

Morales was part of the producing and writing teams for the award winning civil rights Chicano series, CHICANO! The Mexican American Civil Rights Movement, produced for PBS as the first moving image representation of Latin American history. She directed an ACE and Emmy® nominated two-hour documentary, part of a six hour series for Turner Broadcasting, A CENTURY OF WOMEN, focusing on 20th century US women narrated by Jane Fonda. She also made the acclaimed short documentary CHICANA.

Ms. Morales headed the national Latino Consortium at KCET in Los Angeles for over 5 years. She was responsible for the programming, production and distribution of Latino-theme programs that aired on PBS national affiliates. During her tenure at KCET, Morales hosted the Latino Consortium's weekly national series, PRESENTE, and produced and directed several television award nominated programs. In addition, Morales is a recipient of the prestigious Rockefeller Fellowship Award in Media Awards and was also one of the select groups of women chosen to participate in the American Film Institute's Directing Workshop for Women.

She received a Fellow from the National Endowment of the Arts and has been recognized for outstanding contribution of Southern California women to the arts. She received her BA and MFA in film from the University of California at Los Angeles. She is currently an Associate Professor in the School of Film/Television at Loyola Marymount University and completed the documentary A CRUSHING LOVE in 2009. (7/12)

Chicana
A film by Sylvia Morales, 1979, 23 min., Color
CHICANA traces the history of Chicana and Mexican women from pre-Columbian times to the present. It covers women's role in Aztec society, their partic...

A Crushing Love
A film by Sylvia Morales, 2009, 58 min., Color
A CRUSHING LOVE, Sylvia Morales’ sequel to her groundbreaking history of Chicana women, CHICANA (1979), honors the achievements of five activist Latin...