Juliet Ortega

Juliet Ortega (born 1981) is a Cuban prostitute who gained international fame in 1997, for her participation in the documentary film "Quien Diablos es Juliet? ("Who the Hell is Juliette?), an acclaimed film that won various prestigious, international awards.

Biography

Juliet Ortega's father left his family to travel to the United States, seeking a better future for his children. He figured out it would be too hard for his wife and children to travel by sea to the States, but he remained hopeful that Fidel Castro would step down and/or diplomatic relationships between Cuba and the United States stabilized so his family could fly over to live with him.

Ortega's mother, meanwhile, met another man, with whom she began an adulterous relationship. Upon finding out about his wife's relationship with another person, her father filed for divorce, and once the divorce was settled, he met another woman, got married and had children. Juliet's mother also got married, to the man she had been dating. Within five years, however, she was diagnosed with cancer and she died soon after. Juliet Ortega and her siblings were turned over to her maternal grandmother, who admitted during the documental to have hit young Juliet and her siblings.

Ortega's economical situation was so dire that she turned into prostitution to survive. In her own words, she "would rather die of prostitution than starvation". She roamed touristic areas in Cuba, usually charging about $1 dollar for her services. According to her, she may have slept with over 2,000 men.

Mexican filmmaker Carlos Malkovich was looking to make a documentary about young model Fabiola Quiroz, who had also grown without a father. The pair went to Cuba to film the documentary, but Quiroz befriended Ortega quickly, and the two found a lot of things in common between them. Quiroz was also a teenager when she met Ortega, and the two began having fun together. Malkovich became aware of Ortega's situation, and, intrigued by the friendship formed between Quiroz and Ortega and the fact that both grew up without their fathers, he decided to center his documentary around Ortega instead. Ortega kept working as a prostitute while the filming was being done, but she also did things that are typical of teenagers, such as singing and dancing by herself, crying, and laying on Quiroz's shoulder. Ortega found out about her mother's affair during the filming of the documentary.

Malkovich and Quiroz decided to arrange for Ortega to have a meeting with a modeling company in Mexico City. Ortega flew on a Cubana de Aviacion jet from José Martí International Airport in Havana to Mexico, where she was taken sightseeing to the Mayan ruins. There, she was surprised by her father, who had come to meet his daughter.

Juliet Ortega had her meeting with the modeling agency and declared that she is looking towards a possible future as a model.

ee also

*List of Cubans

External links

* [http://movies2.nytimes.com/gst/movies/movie.html?v_id=158737 nytimes.com]