Hummingbirds by Silvia del Carmen Castaños and Estefanía Contreras
By Carlos A. Gutiérrez*
As the border narrative has taken center stage in American politics in the face of November’s presidential elections—not by mere coincidence, both leading candidates from the two mainstream parties organized publicity stunts in two Texan border communities last week—an exciting and auspicious group of burgeoning fronterizo filmmakers is unassumingly but confidently challenging those alarmist and crisis narratives through innovative and artistic cinematic representations.
By a happenstance alignment, a group of Mexican-American filmmakers hailing from Texas, composed of mostly female directors, have premiered films in the past year that contrast the sensationalist headlines of the border chaos and disruption, with very nuanced and sensitive portraits of the resilience of the region's people and the complexities of the bi-cultural and bi-national communities along the Rio Grande (or Río Bravo, as it’s known south of the border).
These filmmakers include Silvia Del Carmen Castaños and Estefanía ‘Beba’ Contreras (Hummingbirds), Alejandra Vasquez and Sam Osborn (Going Varsity in Mariachi), Iliana Sosa (God Save Texas: La Frontera), and the upcoming Robie and Alejandro Flores (The In Between).
Going Varsity in Mariachi by Alejandra Vasquez and Sam Osborn
These works all follow in the footsteps of the 2014 groundbreaking film Las Marthas by El Paso-native director Cristina Ibarra. Her documentary pioneered a fresh perspective on the interconnectedness of the border by portraying an annual debutante ball in Laredo dedicated to Martha Washington. An overlooked masterpiece of American independent cinema, Las Marthas follows two Mexican-American girls as they bear the weight of this opulent tradition on their shoulders during a time of economic uncertainty and tension over immigration policies.
Almost a decade later, directors Castaños and Contreras—the former born in Laredo, the latter in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico—premiered their playful and personal documentary Hummingbirds at the Berlinale last year, winning the Grand Prix in the Generation 14plus competition. This irreverent and upbeat first-person collaborative slacker buddy movie follows the explosive directorial duo of Silvia and Estefanía, as they venture out at night to escape the harsh summer heat in the Río Grande Valley.
The filmmakers turn the cameras on themselves as they roam deserted streets of Laredo in pursuit of inspiration, excitement, and a feeling of belonging. As external pressures jeopardize their shared aspirations, they unite to defend their dreams, cherishing the present moment and their bond with each other. With a diversity of topics including queerness, reproductive rights and immigration, Hummingbirds mischievously challenges the status quo in a politically divided country.
Described as a “Hoop Dreams with music,” Vasquez and Osborn’s feature Going Varsity in Mariachi had its world premiere in the US Documentary competition at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the Jonathan Oppenheim Editing Award.
This delightful film tells the underdog story of the Edinburg North High School’s Mariachi Oro, a music group based in the South Texas borderlands and led by a determined coach as the young musicians prepare to compete for the state championship against their rivals at Texas’ main high school mariachi competition. By documenting their journey through the competition calendar, Going Varsity in Mariachi deftly explores themes of culture identity, class struggle, and social issues.
God Save Texas: La Frontera by Iliana Sosa
Iliana Sosa, recipient of the Louis Black 'Lone Star' Award and the Fandor New Voices Award at the 2022 SXSW Film Festival for her poetic debut feature What We Leave Behind, recently premiered the documentary feature La Frontera at Sundance. La Frontera is part of the HBO documentary series God Save Texas, inspired by the book of the same name by Lawrence Wright (Richard Linklater and Alex Stapleton directed the other two parts).
Sosa's first-person documentary expands on her debut feature, which followed her aging Mexican grandfather, who, after a lifetime of crossing the border, made a final trip back to rural Mexico. In La Frontera, Sosa captivatingly explores her relationship with her fronterizo upbringing and recounts the challenges that her hometown of El Paso faces amid the current political climate.
Next up is the lyrical and deeply personal documentary The In Between by the Flores siblings, Robie and Alejandro, making its world premiere in the documentary competition at the SXSW Film Festival in Austin this weekend. Following the death of their brother, Robie returns to her hometown of Eagle Pass to reconnect with their childhood memories. Along the way, she confronts her state of grief and embraces her cultural upbringing, navigating the complexities of 'in-betweenness'.
The first feature film from director Robie Flores and her brother Alejandro reveals a subtle and unexpected depiction of the US/Mexico border, presenting a humanizing viewpoint that depicts the vitality of a flourishing bi-cultural and bi-national community, celebrating the resilience and vitality of its residents.
The In Between by Robie and Alejandro Flores
Another earlier film in this cohort of films is the 2021 documentary Dirty Feathers, the remarkable debut feature by Mexican-born Carlos Alfonso Corral, produced by renowned Italian filmmaker Roberto Minervini, which was selected for the Panorama section at the Berlinale.
Shot on the streets of El Paso and Ciudad Juárez in stark black and white, the vérité film is a sensitive portrayal of a group of residents of a homeless community on both sides of the border, including a recently married couple, a grieving father, a war veteran, and a 16-year-old girl, all of them living in the edge.
Central to all of these cinematic works is the concept of “Nepantla,” a border studies theory developed by queer Chicana scholar Gloria Anzaldúa, who was born in Harlingen, Texas. She repurposed a Mexican Indigenous term, which originally described the space between two bodies of water, to articulate a complex notion applicable to border studies—the idea of 'in-betweenness,' a space where one is not simply one thing or another, but in a state of constant flux. Director Sosa explores these concepts in her latest film, and it is no coincidence that the Flores siblings have embraced the concept of 'in-betweenness' as the title of their debut feature.
Regrettably, ineffective federal policies are unfairly blaming border communities for the diverse array of issues facing America. Fortunately, these fronterizo filmmakers are providing a compelling counterbalance to these toxic narratives by highlighting the complexities and virtues of life in rich bi-cultural and bi-national communities.
Through their sensitive and insider perspectives, these filmmakers capture the essence of life on the border, inviting audiences to enter into the stories and experiences of those residing in this dynamic region. With their poignant portrayals of struggle, resilience, and hope, these films serve as a testament to the power of storytelling in bridging divides and nurturing understanding in our increasingly intricate world.
*Carlos A. Gutiérrez is the co-founding executive director of Cinema Tropical
