POV, Hummingbirds
PBS Western Reserve (WNEO 45.1 / WEAO 49.1):
Sunday, July 7, at 11 PM
HUMMINGBIRDS is an upbeat documentary feature that centers on the lived experiences of its protagonist directors, Silvia Del Carmen Castaños and Estefanía "Beba" Contreras, who grew up in the shadow of the Texas borderlands. Offering an unexpected depiction of the US/Mexico border, this sparky and irreverent tale of friendship and resilience explores the crossroads of immigration, gender, sexuality, mental health, and class.
HUMMINGBIRDS, captured during the balmy summer nights of their fleeting youth in Laredo, Texas, best friends and directors Castaños and Contreras — the former from Laredo and the latter from Nuevo Laredo, Mexico — narrate their coming-of-age journey, transforming their border-town locale into a haven of creative expression and activist mischief. Through collaborative filmmaking, their cinematic self-portrait exalts the potency of friendship and joy as tools of survival and resistance.
Between drive-thrus, friends’ couches, and the borderlands, both friends confront the stresses of survival, the future, and the imperative of community building. For them, this means protest action for legal abortion and against border militarization, in a politically divided America. But the summer heat is also a time for poetry and dreams. Their laughter and creative expression cement a sense of solidarity and belonging in togetherness.
