1st Annual Femme Frontera Filmmaker Showcase
The first annual Femme Frontera Filmmaker Showcase premiered on August 1st, 2016 at the El Paso, TX Alamo Drafthouse to a packed house. It then embarked on a national U.S. tour screening at independent theater houses, universities, and film festivals. The Showcase is a celebration of women filmmakers living on the U.S.-Mexico border region and serves as an opportunity to revise stereotypical cultural narratives through the simple act of showing the truth.
"Whether they are real or imaginary, physical or intangible, boundaries divide and disquiet in Femme Frontera, a ravishingly well-told, deeply felt series of narrative and documentary shorts from Latina filmmakers living along the US-México border. Resisting stereotypical, hyper masculine depictions of the Latina experience that so often reduce characters of color to the status of flimsy cardboard cutouts, the directors of Femme Frontera prioritize feeling and style ahead of plot, cultivating tactile emotional realities onscreen that address–in part–the illogic behind man-made walls. “These films revise the cultural narrative entirely through the simple act of showing the truth,” Femme Frontera founder Angie Tures writes. "The six women filmmakers of Femme Frontera are unapologetic in their portrayals of sacrifice, perseverance, sexism, bigotry, and radical hope."
- Review, Indie Grits Film Festival
THE FILMS
CHILD OF THE DESERT
A military mother, who has just suffered the loss of her son, meets an undocumented immigrant in the West Texas desert and befriends him.
Narrative Short Directed by Iliana Sosa
memory box
Julieta, age 19 and recently deceased, experiences the afterlife for the first time at a Day of the Dead celebration.
Narrative Short Directed by Angie Reza Tures
LA CATRINA
Grieving her husband's death, a farm worker on the border becomes La Catrina and journeys to find him through the mythic landscape of the harvest.
Narrative Short Directed by Ilana Lapid
Overland
Alone, undocumented, and in need of fast money, Noemi steps out of her comfort zone and becomes a "fantasy maid". Overland is a story about exploitation, perseverance, and burning away the stereotypes that surround undocumented women.
Narrative Short Directed by Jazmin Harvey
undocumented freedom
After nearly a decade of living in the shadows of the law, a man deported at teh age of 19 for a non-violent drug offense seeks help with a federal attorney from New York who is ready to fight for his case...and for 11 million more...
Documentary Short Directed by Laura Bustillos Jáquez
The appleseed project
A video anthology that captures the sound, personal, and story of women musicians from the borderlands-La Frontera. Narratives reflect the determination, heartbreak, and creativity of women richly talented and full of wisdom.
Documentary Short Directed by Jennifer Lucero