The Texas Border Is the New Frontier of Film
March 25, 2025 at 10:22PMThe Texas-Mexico border, long misrepresented in media as a lawless and violent land, is emerging as a new backdrop for film. Local filmmakers, part of an emerging “Border New Wave” movement, are reshaping and reclaiming border narratives—and portraying life along the Rio Grande as it really is, free of cartel violence and Border Patrol conflict. Making films in South Texas, however, isn’t easy without the right infrastructure and industry resources. But the region’s storytellers and community organizations are coming together to push for better Latino representation and to build a filmmaking ecosystem in which they can thrive.
To many Americans, the southern edge of civilization lies somewhere in San Antonio (or even Austin). Long dismissed or disregarded, the Texas-Mexico border has come to be seen as a violent no-man’s-land thanks to incessant sensational news coverage and cartel thrillers. But, partly because of this cultural isolation, the region has also served as an incubator for creatives with unique “in between” experiences that defy the broad Latino tropes we see depicted on screen: the dusty roads, stray dogs, the abuelita lighting a candle to La Virgen, the overuse of words like “mija” in forced Spanglish.
Historically, a lack of creative outlets and infrastructure has caused many to leave the border for entertainment hubs like Los Angeles, New York, and Austin. Alfonso Gomez-Rejon, director of high-budget films Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (2015) and The Current War (2017), left Laredo for New York University (NYU) film school in the early 1990s. At the time, he didn’t appreciate the unique perspective he brought, instead coming to New York with a case of imposter syndrome, working alongside relatively more privileged students from places like Connecticut and California.
More picks about Texas
No One Wanted Them to Win: Texas’ First Baseball Champions
“They could feel their accomplishment slowly being forgotten. The memory of their championship dying with them.”
More Than 4,000 Moth Species Flit Across Texas. One Scientist Photographed 550 in His Yard.
“Smaller, more obscure moths are Curtis Eckerman’s favorites: ‘I love seeing the little jewels that you can’t normally see.’”
One Man’s Quest to Transform the West Texas Desert
“An urban dweller ventures to far West Texas with a dream to transform a barren desert into a lush forest.”
from Longreads https://longreads.com/2025/03/25/the-texas-border-is-the-new-frontier-of-film/
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