As part of Notre Dame’s Hispanic Heritage Month celebration, we welcomed alum Lorena Cortez ’14 back to Notre Dame for a school-wide assembly led by Latinas Unidas officers, Cathy ’25 and Isabella ’25. Lorena, a Latinx filmmaker with experience as a director, producer and editor, is dedicated to bringing powerful stories to life on screen. She is also a successful fundraiser, having secured $35,000 for her most recent short film Copacabana, filmed in downtown San Jose. 

Students held a Q&A session followed by additional questions from the student body. Lorena emphasized the importance of telling stories from a Latinx perspective, noting that she was often the only person of Latinx descent, and sometimes the only BIPOC, on set. To address this issue, the film crew and cast she hired for Copacabana were primarily from the BIPOC community. 

Then students viewed the trailer for Copacabana. Lorena reflected on the support that she received from her mother and mentors, crediting them for paving the way for her successful career. She now aspires to support others in the same way. For Copacabana, she hired two Notre Dame alums, Hira '14 and Haley '24, as a dancer and production assistant, respectively.

This assembly is part of Notre Dame’s year-long celebration of “women telling women's stories” in honor of the upcoming 30th anniversary of the Woman's Place Project in March 2025. ND proudly celebrates the many women, past and present, who have helped Pave The Way, which is this year’s Associated Student Body (ASB) theme.

View the NBC Bay Area video about Copacabana.