Documentary screening slated

NEWS Staff Report

Documentary and Conjunto music aficionados are in for a treat as the venerated Conjunto and regional music documentary, “Chulas Fronteras” (“Beautiful Borders”) is on tap for a free screening at San Benito’s iconic La Villita Dancehall on April 7, 2023.

The event is slated to begin at 7:30 p.m. and features a presentation (“platica”) after the screening and will conclude with a dance.

The documentary, which has recently been restored to 4 K, will immediately be followed by the discussion led by barrio historian Eduardo Martinez, aka Pharr From Heaven, Tejano singer Veronique Medrano from Brownsville, Tejano music legend, singer, songwriter and educator Cecilio Garza, and Lupe Saenz of the South Texas Conjunto Association.

Medrano also recently spearheaded an effort to initiate a petition to have San Benito’s own Freddy Fender inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum located in Nashville, TN.

A dance, featuring Medrano, Garza and musicians Oscar Garza from the Valley Showband Express, Bobby D. Salinas from Los Dos Gilbertos and Los Fantasmas Del Valle and Riley Garcia from Los Kasinos & Latin Variety Band will cap the evening.

“Chulas Fronteras” is widely considered a landmark documentary that captures the culture along the Texas-Mexico border and highlights the working class music genres of Conjunto, Norteño, and Tejano, organizers say.

Initially released in 1976 by filmmakers Les Blank and Chris Strachwitz, “Chulas Fronteras” has cemented itself as an invaluable piece of history and was filmed in various parts of Texas, including the Rio Grande Valley.

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