‘Latina Spring: Femme Frontera’ showcases inspiring short films by Latina and Indigenous directors

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A curated selection of seven short films by Latina and Indigenous women directors will be screened March 3 in downtown San Antonio as part of the local Latina Spring: Femme Frontera showcase.

TPR’s Marian Navarro spoke with organizer Manuel Solis, the founder and programmer of MonteVideo, and Jackie Barragan, the co-director of Femme Frontera.

Solis began by describing some of the lineup.

This conversation has been edited for clarity and length.

MANUEL SOLIS: One of the films that definitely stands out is Ternura Radical by Celina Galicia, and that deals with the disappearance of women in Ciudad Juárez. So, it definitely is a timely topic and also it continues the dialog in terms of femicide.

Another one that stands out — that stood out to me — is Color Cielo, The Color of the Sky. That’s by Cristal Gonzalez Ávila. That was just a really touching story of the farewell between a mother and her son. I think in terms of appealing to a wide audience, I think that’s something that’s very universal. It kind of touches upon just what I think are some of the themes of this series or this program, which is resistance, relationships and spirituality.

Another film that you can look out for that’s a little bit on the lighter side is called Super High: A Period Piece. This is by Bianca D. Lambert. That deals with the excruciating pain related to a woman’s period. That’s another topic that you don’t really see explored through independent film or in general. So, it’s another one to keep an eye out.

Both of those filmmakers, Celina Galicia and Bianca D. Lambert, are going to be in attendance for the screening. They’ll be participating in a Q&A moderated by Femme Frontera co-director, Jackie Barragan.

MARIAN NAVARRO: Jackie, you are moderating that conversation. What do you hope to learn from Celina and from Bianca on these films? What are you hoping to get some insight about? 

JACKIE BARRAGAN: What’s important to me as a programmer for the film festival and for our showcase is to find out what inspires these directors to create the stories that they’ve created and what do they want to convey to the audience?

This particular showcase is celebrating women and gender diverse filmmakers. With a curated lineup like this, you’re going to find a lot of topics — like Manuel was saying — that you don’t normally see and in conventional filmmaking. For Celina Galicia, who is born and raised on the border and from Juárez, she has on the ground experience and a connection to the stories of Juárez and the femicides. Ternura means tenderness. And so, I want to ask her to talk a little more about shedding light and awareness on the challenges that they they face as a community.

Bianca is a first-time filmmaker, actually, and Super High — the film that’s showing in San Antonio — is her first film and she did an incredible job. And so, I’d like to have her talk a little bit about her process and maybe inspire other filmmakers who are women or gender expansive to make their first piece.

Courtesy: Celina Galicia / Courtesy: Jackie Barragan

NAVARRO: Jackie, you are the co-director of Femme Frontera, which is an organization founded and led by women along the border. Your aim and goal is to give resources and support to get these stories and experiences told. The showcase is usually held in El Paso, so tell me a little bit about Femme Frontera as a showcase how it started and how it’s evolved over time?

BARRAGAN: Femme Frontera was founded in 2016 by a group of women and gender expansive filmmakers based out of El Paso, Texas and Juárez, Ciudad Juárez, and they just came together. They had films, they wanted to screen them, and they decided to showcase their films together and create a space that is kind of lacking in the film industry for women’s voices. That screening just caught on, and they ended up being able to have a curated showcase every year. Then they became a formalized organization.

Fast forward to now, we still have honored that legacy of curating this showcase of seven to eight short films. We premiere it in El Paso, Texas in downtown El Paso. Once that showcase premieres, then it goes on tour. This is a part of our showcase tour from last year’s ninth annual showcase. It’s been all over. It’s screened all over New Mexico, it’s been to California, and now we’re taking it on tour in Texas — in Austin and San Antonio. That’s the origin of how this showcase came to be.

Courtesy

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Femme Frontera

NAVARRO: March is, of course, Women’s History Month. But beyond that, Jackie, tell me a little bit more about this greater effort and this greater need to highlight these types of stories, these types of filmmakers, these types of topics that you don’t necessarily see in a mainstream film scene.

BARRAGAN: We are an organization that has identified an issue, which is that there are few opportunities for women and gender expansive filmmakers. In Hollywood, I think it’s like 1% of film directors that are in the Hollywood landscape are women. You can see the statistics, and we know that it’s important that people want to hear stories from women.

They want to hear our perspectives that us as creatives have a lot to offer. By providing our our insight, we can help shape this world and help bring a better understanding. We want to cultivate and empower more women to share their stories. That’s part of what we do. We provide film grants and we provide we provide screening opportunities and educational workshops to cultivate filmmakers that are women and gender expensive.

NAVARRO: Give me all the details. Manuel, how, when, where can people attend the Latina Spring: Femme Frontera screening here in San Antonio?

SOLIS: This is a free community screening that we’re presenting in partnership with Mexican American Civil Rights Institute. That’s going to be taking place on Tuesday, March 3 at UNAM San Antonio, which is in Hemisfair Park. Again, we do have two filmmakers in attendance. So, we’re hoping people can make it out for the screening.

Courtesy

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MACRI / MonteVideo

Aside from that, we do have some other additional screenings as part of Latina Spring. On March 24, we will be showing the documentary, Li Cham. That’s going to be taking place at UNAM as well. This is also a free community screening. We’re presenting this, this screening in partnership with the American Indians in Texas at the Spanish Colonial Missions.

I just wanted to point out that in terms of Femme Frontera, we are partnering with the Latino Collection and Resource Center, which is that part of Central Library. So again, it’s important for us to be able to connect with these community organizations and allies and be able to present these important stories and inspiring stories for the community.

We close the film series out on Tuesday, April 2 in Austin. This is a special program called Salón de Cortos, and these are all short films, again, directed by Latinas and Indigenous women. This specific program centers on healing, self-empowerment and sisterhood. So, we’re excited to be able to bring Latina Spring from San Antonio to Austin.