La Frontera Film Lab

En Español

Film still from Grown Without Water, directed by Xochitl Rodriguez. Photo by the Director of Photography Riley Engemoen. Grown Without Water was an official selection of the 2020 Femme Frontera Filmmaker Showcase.

Introducing…

The Femme Frontera Border Filmmaking Lab made possible through the support of the Sundance Institute!

As part of our ongoing effort to amplify more stories from our U.S.-Mexico border region of El Paso and Juarez told by people born and living in this region, we have designed a new program for an El Paso-Juarez filmmaking team, made up of BIPOC women, non-binary, and/or trans filmmakers, to create one short documentary together.

How will it work?

Two BIPOC women, trans, or non-binary filmmakers, one from El Paso, Texas and one from Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico will be selected to collaborate on one short documentary exploring a topic of their choosing about life on the border. They will meet monthly over the course of 12 months to work with a facilitator and with mentors, attend workshops, networking sessions, and a work-in-progress screening session. At the end of the Lab, the film will premiere as part of the 7th Annual Femme Frontera Filmmaker Showcase in November 2022.

Purpose of the program:

Femme Frontera was created as an antithesis to rhetoric about the border and immigrants perpetuated by, but in existence well before the Trump administration. We exist to challenge current narratives regarding the demonization of immigrants and border communities around the world, most especially along the U.S.-Mexico border. Supporting stories told by the people who were born, live, and/or work along the U.S.-Mexico border is a way to begin dismantling those narratives by replacing them with stories that actually and accurately portray the day to day realities of this region.

The goals of the program are as follows:

  • A story told about the border by people from the border.

  • Provide two BIPOC women, non-binary or trans filmmakers from Juarez and El Paso with the resources and support to collaborate on a documentary short film about the border told from each filmmaker’s perspective.

  • Create a safe space to ensure that both voices are supported, represented, and valued equally.

  • Support filmmakers’ artistic visions in a way that fosters, encourages, and champions the story they choose to tell.

The selected filmmaker team will receive:

  • A $4000 budget for the production of their film.

  • An experienced facilitator to support the creation of their films from inception through distribution.

  • Four online workshops given by prominent leaders in documentary film. The filmmaking team will select from a range of workshops that they feel will best serve their needs and goals to create the best film possible.

  • Access to professional camera equipment from Panavision. *some restrictions apply

REQUIREMENTS

To apply to the La Frontera Film Lab, you MUST:

  • Have created and completed at least one short documentary that has screened for public exhibition.

  • Identify as a woman, non-binary, or trans.

  • Currently live within the city limits of El Paso or Juarez and have lived here for at least 4 years. You may apply as a team or as an individual (one filmmaker from El Paso, one filmmaker from Juarez). If applying as an individual, you will be paired with another individual filmmaker from the opposite side of the border to create one film together.

  • Identify as BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color), Migrant, Mexican, Mexican-American, Transfronterizx, and/or LGBTQIA. If working as a team, both filmmakers must identify as such.

  • Have flexibility in working on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border either in person or remotely via Zoom (we understand that there may be legal restrictions and will work with you if you are unable to cross).

  • Establish a feasible timeline for you, your partner, and La Frontera Film Lab Impact Producer/Facilitator to work on and complete your proposed documentary.

  • Work well as a team leader AND team player.

  • Be 18+ years of age.


2021-2022 LA FRONTERA FILM LAB FELLOWS

We’re so excited to announce our La Frontera Film Lab Fellowship Recipients!! Meet Mariana Góngora-Reyes and Analaura Cardenas - two artists and filmmakers from our US-Mexico border region. They will be developing a documentary about the El Paso-Juarez border for which they will receive mentoring and support from Femme Frontera. This Film Lab is possible thanks to the Sundance Institute!

¡Estamos muy emocionadxs de anunciar a nuestrxs beneficiarixs de la beca La Frontera Film Lab! Conozcan a Mariana Góngora-Reyes y Analaura Cárdenas, dos artistas y cineastas de nuestra región fronteriza entre Estados Unidos y México. Desarrollarán un documental sobre la frontera El Paso y Juarez para el que recibirán tutoría y apoyo de Femme Frontera. Este laboratorio de cine es posible gracias al Fondo de Instituto de Sundance.


Mariana Gongora-Reyes

Estudié cine en Chicago en 2011, desde entonces, he buscado hacer video registros audiovisuales desde la memoria colectiva, mas específico, en documental y video periodismo. Mi trabajo ha sido mostrado en Ecuador, Nicaragua, Guatemala y partes de Estados Unidos. Así mismo, he colaborado en espacios como Democracy Now! en Nueva York, TeleSUR en Ecuador y The Guardian en Londres. Mi mayor enfoque es hacia la violencia de género, la resistencia y autonomía de las personas. Durante mis primeros 17 años, viví en Ciudad Chihuahua, lugar donde normalicé desde chica los feminicidios y cárteles. Mi trabajo ahora explora todo el proceso de desnormalización de la violencia después de mudarme a Estados Unidos, lugar “relativamente seguro” para procesar mis propias experiencias en la frontera, donde llevo alrededor de 10 años explorando y encontrando similitudes dentro de la identidad Chihuahuense, binacional y México-Estadounidense, pero que por resistencia ante el Estado, decido posicionarme e identificarme como Morrx Fronterizx, como muchxs de lxs personas que se encuentran en el espectro y la vivencia binacional. Me inspira Audre Lorde y también el sabernos que entre fronteras hay apoyo, la fortaleza de quienes acompañan mis dolores a pesar de los suyos, las bi-vencias en resistencia y la idea de un futuro más justo hacia con todxs.

Analaura Cardenas

Mi interés/ experiencia en el cine se derivó de la práctica de la fotografía, para más tarde tomar una clase de cinematografía en la universidad de Artes visuales en la Ciudad de Chihuahua. A raíz de ello me pareció muy interesante el poder ver una imagen en movimiento, el tener más campo y posibilidades al trabajar o querer registrar algún interés visual.

Mi trabajo está enfocado principalmente en mis vivencias, pensares, y sentires respecto a la sociedad que me rodea, ya sea en mi estado, o de mi país. Por medio de ello busco formar comunidad o lazos con otrxs, el hacerles saber por medio de algo visual que no estamos solxs, que nos podamos identificar lxs unxs con lxs otrxs y poder crear resistencia a estas vivencias al formar vínculos y espacios basados en el cuidado y empatía entre nosotrxs.