Frontera Filmmakers Showcase

This showcase offers a special spotlight on the binational creative scene by celebrating the dynamic contemporary film landscape of Southern California, USA, and Baja California, Mexico. This year the program presents works by young and established talents from the region, most of them with first and/or second works. The views of the creators in this edition portrays a panorama of themes, forms and feelings: migration and border, children's fantasies, binational social problems, personal journeys, the feminist movement, youthful reflections, the trajectory of Tijuana boxing, poetics in the first person, as well as pieces that address the pandemic period that we just went through.

DEL MANANTIAL DEL CORAZÓN

Dir. René Vargas Madrigal (Mexico / USA, 78 min., 2022, Spanish, Yucatec Maya w/ English Subtitles, Drama)

3/15 / 6:15 / S6 3/18/ 9:00 / S6

Available virtually 3/20

Three stories about the life and experiences of Mayan Mestiza women as they grow up in the unique post-colonial sincretism of the catholic and mayan traditions; unique to Yucatán. Frontera

Filmmakers Showcase.

LOS FUNDADORES

Dir. Diego Hernandez (Mexico, 62 min., 2021, Spanish w/ English Subtitles, Drama) 3/13 / 5:40 / S6 3/19 / 11:30 AM / S7

Available virtually 3/16

Despite a great effort, the professional development of university students Renee, Andrés, and Diego is affected after authorities divert important resources. Engulfed in a passive and disorganized community, their disagreement with the position taken by their school leads them in a search of ways the school can give in to their demands. Frontera Filmmakers Showcase.

INVASORES

Dir. Luis Moreno (Mexico, 122 min., 2021, Spanish w/ English Subtitles, Documentary)

3/13 / 1:30 / S5 3/15 / 9:10 / S7

Available virtually 3/17

In May 2021, more than one hundred families in Tijuana were compelled to invade the “Cerro de las abejas” due to rent prices, food and unemployment. The families demanded decent housing, asking for the expropriation of lands that have been unused for more than 30 years. Frontera Filmmakers Showcase.

LA RECUA - THE MULE PACK TRAIN

Dirs. Darío Higuera Meza, Trudi Angell (Mexico, 86 min., 2020, Spanish w/ English Subtitles, Documentary)

3/18 / 6:35 / S6 3/20 / 11:00 AM / S5

Available virtually 3/13

Darío Higuera Meza, a traditional saddle maker in Baja California Sur, turned 70 in 2018. In March that year, he and his family traveled 200 miles in 20 days by mule-back, herding a pack train of donkeys from an oasis in the heart of the Sierra de la Giganta all the way to the capital city of La Paz. Fearing that the old traditions might be lost forever, he overcame hardships of health, rattlesnakes, and hot days on rocky, forgotten trails in order to honor the memory of Lower California’s “long-haul” equine merchants “los arrieros”– the muleteers of Baja’s donkey pack-trains. Two trail-savvy children, Ramoncito, age 8, Dario’s grandson, and Azucena, age 10, add sparkle to the tale as they ride through the desert out-back, sharing their own stories and songs along historic El Camino Real. Frontera Filmmakers Showcase.

DESDE LA ESQUINA

Dirs. Mario Genel, Omar Millán (Mexico, 94 min., 2022, Spanish w/ English Subtitles, Sports Documentary)

3/19 / 5:30 / S5 3/20 / 11:15 AM / S6

Available virtually 3/17

Though his childhood was filled with abandonment and misery, the boxing trainer Romulo Quirarte produced entire generations of world champions and elite fighters towards the end of the twentieth century, making Tijuana the epicenter of Boxing in Mexico. Featuring appearances by Julio Cesar Chavez and Erik Morales. Frontera Filmmakers Showcase.

SHORTS PROGRAM

Frontera Narratives

IDENTIFICATION | Dir. Martha Elva Rodriguez, USA LA CUARENTENA | Dir. Johaira Michelle Dilauro, USA FORGETTING CAROLINE | Dir. Alexis Duran, USA OUR FALLING FORT | Dir. Kenia Amaya, Mexico SOME OF THESE DAYS | Dir. Oscar Perez, USA LILY <3 | Dir. Jimena Muhlia, Mexico HYPOCRISIS | Dir. Marlon Morales, Mexico GLAFIRA | Dir. Eric Armando Ibarra, USA

Frontera Documentaries

BRING THEM HOME | Dir. Rike Boomgaarden, Tamara Jatchvadze, USA INNER CITY LEGEND | Dir. Edwin FrankO, USA ON THE BEAT: FEELING BODY | Dir. Karla B. Duarte, USA EL GALLO DE ORO | Dir. Carlos Sanchez, USA #MORRASQUEBAILAN | Dir. Viviana Gonzalez, Mexico OBACHAN | Dir. Nicolasa Ruiz, Mexico LAS COSAS NO TIENEN PAZ | Dir. Samahil Borbón Ojeda, Mexico