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Laura Varela – Segundo de Febrero

By February 17, 2020June 1st, 2021Issues, XVII. Transborder Matters

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Segundo de Febrero in San Antonio, Texas (pp. 180-199; DOI: 10.23692/iMex.17.12)

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Laura Varela

Laura Varela is a documentary filmmaker whose work is shaped by her roots growing up on the US/Mexico border in El Paso, TX. Her work crosses cultural, linguistic and physical borders through the use of film and contemporary art installations. She now resides in San Antonio, TX where she works as a filmmaker and artist. Varelafilm recently merged with Xica Media, a mission driven creative agency and digital networks. Varela’s documentary, As Long as I Remember: American Veteranos was broadcast on PBS from 2010 to 2016. She is currently producing and directing the documentary, raul salinas: The Poetry of Liberation for PBS. She is a recipient of awards from The National Association of Latino Arts and Culture, Humanities Texas, Latino Public Broadcasting’s Public Media Content Fund, ITVS and Best Director Award from the San Antonio Film Festival.

Segundo De Febrero (documentary short)On-Line Premiere

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El Paso Native Laura Varela discusses her work as a filmmaker and artist. Her first person essay examines the influences and awareness of the world when growing up on the U.S.-Mexican border. Segundo de Febrero is a short documentary she directed from her home base in San Antonio, TX.  It was filmed in 2017 at Christ the King Church, a historic Catholic parish deep in the West Side of San Antonio, a historic and predominantly Mexican American area of the city. Native and Mexican spiritual and cultural traditions continue to find a way. There is a unique mezcla, a mixture of cultures that emerges from populations resisting the mainstream narrative and returning or retaining traditional practices. The heart and soul of this city, of this region, derives from those who have crossed borders and who continue to cross them on a material and spiritual level. Mexican American culture has created a confluence of cultures and has shaped who we are to create something new.  Following is a photo essay presenting some of the essential images of the documentary, presenting part of the film’s transcript together with the photos.

Laura Varela, nativa de El Paso, habla sobre su trabajo como cineasta y artista. Su ensayo en primera persona examina las influencias y la conciencia del mundo al crecer en la frontera entre Estados Unidos y México. Segundo de Febrero es un documental corto que dirigió desde su base de operaciones en San Antonio, TX. Fue filmado en 2017 en la Iglesia de Cristo Rey, una histórica parroquia católica en el lado oeste de San Antonio, un área histórico y predominantemente mexicano-americano de la ciudad. La espiritualidad y las tradiciones culturales nativas y mexicanas continúan encontrando un camino. Hay una mezcla única, una mezcla de culturas que emerge de poblaciones que se resisten a la narrativa dominante y que se regresan a y retienen las prácticas tradicionales. El corazón y el alma de esta ciudad, de esta región, se deriva de aquellos que han cruzado fronteras y que continúan cruzando en un nivel material y espiritual. La cultura mexicana-americana ha creado una confluencia de culturas y ha moldeado quiénes somos para crear algo nuevo. El siguiente ensayo fotográfico presenta algunas de las imágenes esenciales del documental, presentando parte de la transcripción de la película junto con las fotos.

 

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