The setting sun casts a warm glow over the small border town of Laredo as Silvia and Beba stroll contentedly along the Rio Grande. Sitting on the banks of the river that separates two countries, the young friends gaze out over the waters, chatting and idly passing the time as teenagers are prone to do in the lazy days of summer.
Their carefree manner belies deeper realities, however: for Silvia, an American, and Beba, whose family hails from across the border in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, this frontier delineating where one nation ends and the other begins holds profound significance. Life in the liminal space of a bordertown brings challenges as well as opportunities, as audiences will glimpse in Silvia Del Carmen Castaños and Estefanía “Beba” Contreras’s intimate 2019 documentary Hummingbirds.
Castaños and Contreras, both recently graduated from high school, direct and star in this lyrical film portraying their lives and friendship over the summer of 2019. Shot in a loosely structured verité style that follows the pair simply going about their daily activities, Hummingbirds offers viewers a candid glimpse into the experiences of two young queer Latinas navigating personal growth and civic engagement from the complex vantage point of the United States-Mexico border.
Alongside covert footage capturing their organizing for immigrant justice and reproductive rights, the film focuses above all on Silvia and Beba’s deepening artistic talents and steadfast support for one another, reminding all who watch that even amid difficulties, teenage dreams remain worth pursuing with hope for a brighter future.
Meandering Along Memory Lane
Silvia and Beba are cruising the streets of Laredo with cameras in hand, capturing whatever catches their eye. No roadmap plots their course in Hummingbirds—the pair simply wander wherever the day may lead. With nary a script to follow nor scene to construct, their documentary drifts in the manner of everyday life. Memories and moments materialize as if plucked fresh from the filmmakers’ minds, preserved on screen in intimate detail.
This sense of casual discovery stems from Hummingbirds’ vérité style. Like wandering with old friends down memory lane, viewers are immersed in the private world that unfurls before their eyes. Pocketing a handheld camera grants the appearance of a fly on the wall, as subtle and observational as can be. Yet skillful cinematography ensures every quirk and character trait shine through with clarity. The lens lingers with care, allowing the protagonists’ vibrance and vivacity to flourish without interference.
Absent rigid storyboards restricting the flow, Hummingbirds meanders at the meander of real time. Conversations ebb and flow as naturally as tides rather than conforming to cinematic formulas. Silvia and Beba’s personalities surface gently yet genuinely, subtly conveying complex life experiences in the space between jokes and idle musings. The camera bears witness to nuanced moments one may overlook in scripted fare, presenting a full portrait without preaching. This liberty leaves audiences to glean deeper understanding all on their own, learning from lives lived on the border in full independence of filmic conventions.
Walking in Their Shoes
Stepping into the world of Silvia and Beba, one catches glimpses of lives far more richly nuanced than at first glance. Though still youthful, circumstances long beyond their years have compelled maturity. Silvia hails from Laredo, yet family spans the border; her childhood was shortened caring for siblings. Meanwhile, Beba knows the hardship of crossing into America under cover of night, perched on her mother’s shoulders, the harsh realities of immigration status hanging heavy ever since.
Despite pressures pulling them apart, their bond remains the tightknit stitch mending the seams of struggle. As Beba phrases it, their friendship is all they’ve got. Yet within that intimate alliance flourish creativity, resilience, and a vision for change. Silvia spins worlds with wordplay, poetry flowing freely as thoughts. Beba soothes souls through song, melodies pouring from fingertips to match the music in her mind. Together they inspire and support one another, constantly cultivating gifts.
Beyond private sanctuary, the friends find purpose in channeling passion into advocacy. Reproductive rights form the core cause close to heart after meeting at an abortion clinic. Silvia lends prose to Planned Parenthood campaigns, while Beba’s songs fuel the movement. Neither shrink from protest, organizing teach-ins and rallies fighting injustices wrought by political circus. Through art and action, they raise voices for the voiceless, walking mountains in shoes far too small.
Together, Silvia and Beba forge strength from struggle, carving out youth through chasing dreams both shared and singular. Their bond acts bulwark against uncertainties of existence on the borderlands, and watching that steadfast power of friendship may leave one pondering what mountains could be moved if all the world walked in each other’s shoes for but a day.
Beyond the Surface
Life presents multifaceted truths for Silvia and Beba along the borderlands. Ones glimpsed during carefree days yet holding deeper resonances the further one looks.
Immigration uncertainties loom constantly, from Beba awaiting paperwork’s result to familial ties divided cross-river. Yet between jokes surfaces joy in chance meetings, however brief, with those from “the other side.” Relations transcend politics through people’s persistent connections.
Youth often feels fleeting yet responsibilities sometimes arrive too soon. Silvia recalls mothering siblings from childhood’s end. Still, rebellion sparks as sure as fiery teen spirits; laws riskier to break than curfews. Despite pressures, friends steal joy’s moments, whether disrupting bingo for grins or dancing away dusk til dawn.
When strife wears creatively, art offers refuge and means of self-definition. Beba transforms emotions to song; Silvia externalizes insights through imagery and words. Their talents blossom together, each lifting the other higher. Beyond entertainment, creativity becomes power to engage issues and inspire change.
Away from big-city headlines, small-town lives contain a full spectrum of diversity. Silvia and Beba attend rallies for immigrants and organize teach-ins on reproduction despite neighbors’ dissent. Their civic passion stems from rooting for others like themselves, where mainstream media portrays most as criminals or statistics. Grassroots efforts spread awareness on humanity’s ground level.
Beyond superficial labels or assumptions, Hummingbirds reveals lives’ depths defy simplicity. Conflicts and causes seen through eyes navigating borderlands each day, for whom social issues feel deeply personal. Their story shares myriad truths for anyone reflecting on existence’s complexities and our shared breaths beyond lines drawn in sand.
Wading Across Borders
Perched upon the divide separating two nations, Laredo inhabits a space between worlds. Peddlers accept currency from either side, a testament to traders long spanning that river boundary. Yet lives also feel suspended upon shifting tides, torn by pressures from both shores.
Families are fragmented by fates determining who qualifies for a stay. Crossings recall clinging mothers’ backs in darkness’ cover, now recalling young Beba’s experience awaiting paperwork’s outcome. Constant uncertainties plague border residents like no others.
Within this liminal landscape, Hummingbirds’ lens finds everyday beauty amid turmoil. Along banks where Beba once breached, friends now lounge contemplating futures’ possible paths. Down dollar store aisles they roll, through allyways pulsing after-hours beats, upon streets brimming with character despite scarcity’s traces.
Locations become characters in their own right. Every nook holds memories and marks milestones—battle halls hosting rebellions, bowling alleys sheltering midnight mirth. Even derelict buildings shelter idle reveries as youths stray where told they shouldn’t. Their hometown becomes suffused with layers of lived intimacy through roaming cameras documentation.
Beneath day-to-day details lurk deeper undercurrents, conveyed without words. In surroundings reflecting pressured circumstances, Hummingbirds immerses viewers in lives navigating liminal tides, cultivating hope and friendship upon borders both physical and emotional, ever straining to divide yet paradoxically bringing souls together in shared experience.
Reflections Along the River
With little more than curiosity and a knack for camaraderie, Silvia and Beba crafted from humble tools a film as profound as the currents carrying tales of lives along the frontera. Capturing themselves as only true insiders could, their documentary depicts a riverside hamlet in all its vivacity through Verité’s intimate lens.
Natural as breathing, this cinema-direct approach leaves embellishments by the wayside. Beyond calculated angles lie souls in all their complexity, amid humor and sorrow flowing freely as the Rio Grande. Skill and care ensure each quirk and quality shines through, while credits list collaborators few—the work feels one with its heroines.
Representations matter, and through Hummingbirds’ windows, communities find nuance overriding headlines demonizing border towns. Outside eyes risk missing lives’ subtle shadings unseen by insiders walking the tightrope to adulthood where Silvia and Beba tread. Their story gifts perspectives too often denied to those navigating liminality’s challenging terrain.
Audiences glimpse creative spirits cultivating safe havens amid borderlands’ tensions through theater, dance, and words lifting joyful voices over difficulties’ din. Self-assured filmmakers assert agency in conveying experiences through cooperation and honing talents. Their example lights pathways whereby communities achieve self-definition far beyond superficial media molding perception.
Hummingbirds’ intimate vistas invoke reverberations felt to resonate as currents—some seen, some sensed between scenes. Its impact lingers in portraying lives navigating life along a frontier and in the hope two youths’ determination augurs for those traveling in their wake.
Beyond Boundaries
As the summer sun sinks into memories, Hummingbirds brings viewers along the borderlands journey of Silvia and Beba. Glimpses into their vibrant border town lives show struggles and joys seldom seen beyond headlines. Through friendship and creative spirit, the young directors sustain hopes against hardships of circumstance.
Their film tells of navigating adolescence, where two nations meet, cultural roots tangled and identities arrayed across an artery dividing land and people. Yet, despite pressures to conform, the friends embrace self-expression and lift voices for others who are silenced. Their activism springs from roots in a community that is often misrepresented.
While lives remain in flux till citizenship strings loosen, this debut displays a determination that ensures many more Hummingbirds to come. The collaborative model of blossoming artistic gifts redefines who gets to share their visions. In opening pathways for diverse talents, mentorship breeds future works as intimate yet impactful as this glimpse into lives along the frontera.
As the credits roll, viewers reflect on borders as more than lines, but what connects communities on shared grounds. Through cheerful defiance of simplistic labels, Silvia and Beba show the potential when grassroots storytellers capture existences in all their depth and color, borderland residents and dreamers alike.
The Review
Hummingbirds
Hummingbirds triumphs in presenting a richly layered, nuanced perspective that challenges preconceptions through charm, optimism, and thought-provoking insight. It is a work of art that feels perfectly helmed by its subjects, a debut boldly defying categorization just as its heroines refuse limitation.
PROS
- Authentic, intimate verité portrait of Silvia and Beba
- Showcases subjects' magnetic friendship and individual talents.
- Touches on important issues like immigration and reproductive rights
- Highlights border community with nuance beyond headlines
- Crafted collaboratively through inspiring mentorship model
CONS
- Broaches many themes but depth limited by short runtime
- Could frustrate viewers wanting traditional narrative
- Some may find aimless structure less engaging
