I became well known when I started working in the Nova Studios laboratories. My relationship with cinema was born out of economic necessity. When I finished school all I wanted to do was study biology, so I applied to San Marcos and got in. Nevertheless, I am an orphan, and my mother did not have enough money for my travel expenses and my food. So, I looked for a job and applied to the Miral Sound Studio laboratory, learned electronics and left university with a heavy heart. Thus, I got more involved in the recordings and started editing the commercials without a moviola. Then, I went to the Nova laboratories and there I did a bit of everything. But it gave me an advantage, because in all areas of the lab I was learning. So, I learnt direction, production, sound, camera, photography, lab, editing, postproduction. I learnt all the areas of film practice.”
Interview with María Ruíz carried out by Sara Lucia Guerrero, Illary Orccottoma, Isabel Seguí and Lorena Best during the ‘Usted de nuevo señorita’ 2021 project.
Throughout her career, María Ruíz has worked in a large number of film productions and has worked in all fields of cinema. Thus, Ruíz is a reference for cinema in Peru. She had a self-taught education that led her to become the first preservationist of Peruvian cinema. Currently, she is the head preservationist for the Filmoteca PUCP. María has rescued and preserved hundreds of film reels containing fiction, documentaries, newsreels and advertisements, a solitary task that she now shares with preservationists who have recently been trained to work in Peru. She also belongs to the collective that promotes the creation of the Peruvian Cinematheque.
The bio-filmografía of María Ruíz is available on the online archive ‘Rebeldes y Valientes’ co-ordinated by Gabriela Yepes.
Los ofidios (1980)
Momentos (1998)
No existen copias de ambas películas.