Mission:

Femme Frontera is a Latine-led film organization composed of and founded by predominantly women and non-binary filmmakers from the U.S.-Mexico border region of El Paso, Texas, Las Cruces, New Mexico, and Cd. Juárez, Chihuahua, México. 

Femme Frontera centers the experiences of women, non-binary people, and LGBTQIA+ communities from border regions around the world and generates resources and support for filmmakers whose lived border experiences inform their connection to those stories. We provide essential support for filmmakers from around the world, and expanded access for filmmakers in the Paso del Norte region, who are navigating and examining pervasive and perceived barriers globally, and especially at the US-Mexico border. Femme Frontera’s ecosystem offers filmmakers and communities opportunities for shared storytelling and discourse, exhibitions and showcases, project funding, peer-to-peer resources, mentorship, and film education, toward a world beyond and in defiance of borders and barriers.

Our Story:

Femme Frontera is a Latine-led film organization made up of, and founded by women and non-binary filmmakers from the U.S.-Mexico border regions of El Paso, Texas, Las Cruces, New Mexico, and Cd. Juárez, Chihuahua, México. Our mission is to amplify films made by people with lived connections to and relationships with the experiences of women and non-binary people from border regions around the world and to amplify and celebrate these unique stories through showcasing work, funding projects, and providing film education.

Femme Frontera was founded in 2016 by six women and non-binary filmmakers from the U.S.-Mexico border region of El Paso, Texas, Las Cruces, New Mexico, and Cd. Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico. We amplify films that center the experiences of women and non-binary filmmakers from border regions around the world. Since 2017, Femme Frontera has been featured in Variety Magazine, Remezcla, and Texas Monthly magazine, among others. In 2019, Femme Frontera also became listed as one of the “Top 10 Film Festivals for Female Filmmakers” by Milan Arielle Productions as well as one of the top “Film Festivals who are Showing How Media Has the Power to Change the World” by GirlHQ.

In 2020, Femme Frontera was awarded funding from the Ford Foundation for organizational support and a grant from the Perspective Fund to expand the documentary program and integrate Spanish speaking only classes into its curriculum. In 2021, Femme Frontera was awarded a Sundance Arts Organization Grant to begin a Border Filmmakers’ Lab serving El Paso and Juarez women and non-binary filmmakers.

The Femme Frontera Filmmaker Showcase began as a celebration of films made by women filmmakers from the U.S.-Mexico border region. Since then, we have expanded to include powerful short films from around the world, whose stories challenge perceptions about women, border communities, immigrants, people of color, the LBGTQ+ community, and other underrepresented communities.

Made possible with the support of the following foundations:

PAST SUPPORT, 2021 - 2022