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Saturday, June 8, 2024
Soy Tejana focuses on emerging and veteran filmmakers whose works redefine perceptions of the Lone Star State. Curated by MonteVideo these selections spotlight fresh perspectives influencing today’s independent Texas cinema.
Hummingbirds
Directed by Silvia Del Carmen Castaños, Estefanía “Beba” Contreras
2023, USA, 77 min
In Laredo, best friends Silvia and Beba know that the long summer nights of their youth cannot last forever. Their hang-out spots are so familiar but, stuck in an immigration process, over these places also hangs the constant threat of deportation. Under these circumstances, home seems a fragile concept. But the dusty half-light is also a time for poetry and dreams. Their laughter and creative expression cement a sense of solidarity and belonging in togetherness.
Breaking the News
Directed by Heather Courtney, Princess A. Hairston, and Chelsea Hernandez
2023, USA, 60 min
Who decides which stories get told? A scrappy group of women and LGBTQ+ journalists buck the white male-dominated status quo, banding together to launch The 19th*, a digital news startup aiming to combat misinformation. A story of an America in flux, and the voices often left out of the narrative, the documentary Breaking the News shows change doesn’t come easy.
God Save Texas: La Frontera
Directed by Iliana Sosa, 2023, USA, 55 min
Filmmaker Iliana Sosa examines how “nepantla,” an embrace of in-betweenness, characterizes relations to both her Mexican heritage and her hometown of El Paso, Texas. An exploration revealing how the city’s humanity and unique hybridity catalyzed unity, nurturing healing in the aftermath of a devastating mass shooting in 2019.
In Tow
Directed by Sharon Arteaga, 2022, USA, 21 min
A self-involved teen and her overworked single mom confront their differences as their mobile home is towed away … with them inside of it!