Saturday: Students' Border Short-Film Festival, Initiative with WCHF

Texas A&M International University’s (TAMIU) Service-Learning Center has initiated a new cinematic partnership between the Webb County Heritage Foundation (WCHF) and students in TAMIU associate professor Dr. John Dean’s Chicano/a Literature course. The partnership provides the students with an experiential venue for learning through the creation of short films. 

The resulting films will be presented at the first-ever Border Short-Film Festival in a one-time screening Saturday, November 14, 2015 at 7 p.m. at the WCHF’s Villa Antigua Border Heritage Museum patio, 810 Zaragoza Street.  The event is free of charge and open to the public.

  TAMIU students in Dr. Dean’s course have explored Chicano fictional written pieces as part of their curriculum.  Through access to the WCHF archives, they were able to further explore historical pictures that portray life on the border at different times. The students’ short films explore the legacy of Mexican-Americans in Laredo, integrating references to the written work with WCHF archive images.

Films scheduled for presentation include:  “A Prohibited Love” by Carlos Irrizary, Carlos Calderon, Carlos Limon, Salvador Hernandez; “The Indigenous Roots of Mexican and Mexican-American Culture” by Dinorah Arista, Mayra Galindo, Nadine Rodríguez;  “My History, Not Yours” by Michael Cadena, Karina Ríos, Kelsey Martínez, Deveino McRae;  “Sin Raiz” by Alondra Garza, Adriana Aguilar, María Enriquez, Paula Ramírez; “The Border is Burning” by Javier Palos, Janiece Ochoa, Daniela Nuñez, Ricardo Rodríguez; and “Caramelo: Border Culture within History” by Laura González, Daniela Cervantes, Christina Chapa and Brenda Servin.   

Each film is approximately 10 minutes in length and students will participate in a Q & A session to share their experiences in the service-learning course at the screening’s end.

TAMIU Service-learning classes provide experiences to students by pairing a TAMIU class with a local organization. Through service-learning, students explore connections between theory and practice, discover different venues for learning, and learn of community organizations in the Laredo area. The University’s Service-Learning Program is directed by Dr. Marcela Uribe.

Since 1980, the Webb County Heritage Foundation has been dedicated to preserving the distinctive cultural and architectural heritage of Laredo and Webb County, Texas. It is a leading preservation organization in South Texas, and a longtime University partner.

For more information, call Dr. Uribe at 956.326.3132 , email servicelearning@tamiu.edu, click on tamiu.edu or visit offices located in Sue and Radcliffe Killam Library, Suite 421.

For information on the Webb County Heritage Foundation, contact executive director Margarita Araiza at 956.727.0977, email maraiza@webbheritage.org or click on http://webbheritage.org