TAMIU Grad Students Host Border Docs Film Screening Dec. 10
Texas A&M International University (TAMIU) graduate students will host an upcoming documentary film screening Tuesday, Dec. 10 at 7 p.m. at the Alamo Drafthouse.
Admission is free and open to the public. Attendees are encouraged to arrive early as seating is limited. Doors will open at 6:30 p.m.
Eight TAMIU Communication graduate students enrolled in the Ethnography and Documentary Production in the Border Region course, taught by Marcela Moran, TAMIU associate professor of communication, will showcase their films during the aptly titled film screening, Cine de la Frontera: Borderdocs.
The four films deal with issues related to living on the Mexican-American border. After the screening, students will participate in a Q&A session on filmmaking. The event is sponsored by TAMIU’s Office of Institutional Advancement and the College of Arts and Sciences, department of Psychology and Communication.
This is the second-year graduate students screen their films at the Alamo Drafthouse.
For graduate students and filmmakers Alyssa Robles and Stephanie Mancha, their film titled Echale Ganas, centers around Hispanic women who are first-generation students.
Robles, a first-generation student herself, hopes to shed light on the challenges faced by these students through a series of first-hand interviews.
“The most rewarding part about this experience is the fact that I've created a bond with these first-generation students. As a first-generation student myself, I hope that this film will make them proud of who they are in hopes of creating a platform for other first-generation Hispanic female students,” she said.
While each documentary deals with different issues related to the border, Mancha hopes that their documentary, as well as her peers’ films, help bring attention to life on the border.
“For me, documentary filmmaking is an opportunity to share stories, particularly stories of people who have been ignored or overlooked. Nowadays, the whole country has a certain image in their head of the border. Many think they know what the border looks like, how those at the border act, and what living at the border is like, but more often than not, it's not close to the truth. Border life is complex and full of heart, it deserves to be seen in a true light, and there is no truer light than documentary filmmaking. Especially when we, us at the border, are the ones making the films,” said Mancha.
For more information on the upcoming film screenings, contact Moran at 956.326.3047, email amoran@tamiu.edu or visit offices at the Academic Innovation Center, room 346.
TAMIU is celebrating its 50th Anniversary and its 25th Anniversary at its north Laredo campus throughout 2019-2020. A dedicated website shares the University’s transformation from a hybrid upper-level university to a full doctoral degree-granting University. It includes a calendar of Anniversary events and more at tamiu.edu/50.
For more on the University’s story, contact the TAMIU Office of Public Relations, Marketing and Information Services at 956.326.2180, email prmis@tamiu.edu, click on tamiu.edu or visit offices in the Sue and Radcliffe Killam Library, room 268.
TAMIU offices will close in a State-authorized holiday Monday, Dec. 23 - Thursday, Jan. 2.
Offices and the Sue and Radcliffe Killam Library will reopen Friday, Jan. 3 at 8 a.m. The final day of full campus operation is Friday, Dec. 20, from 8 a.m. to noon.
Read additional information on TAMIU holiday schedule and Spring Registration.
