Jorge Prelorán, a retired UCLA professor, alumnus and award-winning documentary maker, died of prostate cancer on March 28. He was 75.
He directed more than 60 films during his career. The focus of his work was documentaries about the lives of the poorest people living in Argentina, his home country.
Prelorán was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina on May 28, 1933. After graduating from UCLA in 1961, Prelorán came back in 1974 and taught at the School of Theater, Film and Television from 1976 until he retired in 1994. Colleagues remember him as an excellent teacher.
“He was extremely generous with time and resources and advice,” said MarÃa Elena de las Carreras, a visiting assistant professor in the department of Film, Television and Digital Media.
“He had no second thoughts about giving you the best that he had.”
Students also recalled the fertile learning environment Prelorán created.
“He was very encouraging to all of his students,” said Michael Miner, a former student of Prelorán’s. “He had a style of teaching which was supportive, collaborative and analytical.”
While teaching at UCLA, Prelorán continued to work on documentaries, short films, television shows and feature films. He was showered with awards for his work from both his native and adopted home countries. He was a Guggenheim Fellow, a Fulbright scholar and the winner of the Golden Astor award for life achievement at the 2005 Mar del Plata Film Festival in Argentina.
Buenos Aires also declared him a “Distinguished Citizen” in 2005. His 1981 documentary, “Luther Metke at 94,” was nominated for an Oscar.
“He was both an inspired filmmaker and a dedicated teacher,” said Robert Rosen, dean of the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television. In 2008, UCLA awarded Prelorán its first International Cinema Artist Award, which was conferred at the commencement ceremony that year.
“(The award is) for artists of the highest distinction whose careers have advanced theater, film and television as an art form and who have expressed humanistic values across national, cultural and language boundaries,” Rosen said.
An enthusiasm and exceptional talent for both teaching and filmmaking made Prelorán an asset to the UCLA faculty.
“The ability to combine the practical aspects of the documentary with the ability to communicate in a way that is meaningful to students is rare,” Rosen said.
Marie Cantin was Prelorán’s student from 1977-1978. She said his influence lead her to her current career as a producer and filmmaker.
“He was the kind of teacher that could simultaneously make you crazy and inspire you to make the best work you’ve ever done,” Cantin said.
In Argentina, Prelorán is considered a national treasure. De las Carreras said she was first exposed to Prelorán’s work when it was shown on Argentinian television. She said his unique subject matter is what drew her to his films.
“They captured the human aspirations of the protagonists. His films were always about those who were in the outskirts of society ““ the humble people who work the land, who were creative but lived a quiet existence outside of the big cities,” de las Carreras said.
Prelorán’s work as a filmmaker will have a lasting influence on his colleagues, his students and the international community he represented and affected.
“We’re very proud to say he was a UCLA filmmaker, but he was a filmmaker for the world,” Rosen said.
Prelorán is survived by his wife, Mabel Prelorán, daughter Adriana Prelorán, son-in-law Anibal Trevisan and sisters Viviana Frejerio and Nancy Prelorán.
In lieu of flowers, gifts may be made in Jorge Prelorán’s memory to the Fund for Excellence in Film, Television and Digital Media, UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television, Development Office, 214 East Melnitz, Box 951622, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1622. Checks should be made payable to “The UCLA Foundation” with “In Memory ““ Prelorán (Account #3976)” in the memo.