- Welcome to POV.
I'm Pete Schwaba,
host of PBS Wisconsin's Director's Cut.
Tonight, we take you to the Texas-Mexico border
for a coming-of-age film about immigrant life, friendship,
and one last innocent summer through the film Hummingbirds.
Hummingbirds is set in the town of Laredo, Texas
and tells the story of 18-year-old Silvia
and 21-year-old Beba, two friends who live in a town
that immigrants pass through daily,
making Laredo a temporary home
for those who seek a better life.
In the summer of 2019, Silvia and Beba turned on their cameras
and recorded their day-to-day as they discuss their past,
contemplate their future, and share their dreams and ambitions
as the uncertainty of adulthood looms.
The project was set into motion
when producers Jillian Schlesinger
and Miguel Drake-McLaughlin saw Silvia's camera footage
in a short film at Laredo High School.
Silvia introduced the producers to Beba
and a documentary was born.
A documentary about the antics of two besties
roaming the city of Laredo,
entertaining each other on summer nights
that they know will not last forever.
A documentary that wowed film festival crowds
and won the grand prize at the 2023 Berlinale Generation.
The collaboration of filmmakers on Hummingbirds
are predominantly, female, queer, and nonbinary.
The two young directors of the film
are also their own lead actors and characters:
characters a writer of a narrative film
might have trouble conceiving.
Sylvia was born in America to undocumented parents
and endures constant uncertainty.
Beba is also in a state of limbo and waiting
as she hopes to become a U.S. citizen.
The film is full of scenes of the two friends
sharing memories of crossing the border,
fear of being deported, and the constant stress
that one or both of their parents might be arrested.
They sing at the top of their lungs in abandoned buildings,
apply homespun tattoos, and gaze at the stars.
They both miss Mexico, but love the hope that America provides.
If that weren't enough,
both characters have been through traumatic abortions
in a very right-wing state
in which they are both immigrants.
Not exactly cookie cutter characters.
Beba and Silvia have come a long way
since they turned on their cameras on the streets
of hot and dusty Laredo, Texas to just four years later,
winning a grand prize at a major film festival.
The Hollywood Reporter calls Hummingbirds
"playful and poetic."
What better way to move through a life
filled with trauma and uncertainty.
Hummingbirds starts now on PBS Wisconsin,
your home for independent film.