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2022

Hummingbirds

Pare Lorentz Documentary Fund Grantee

  • Silvia Del Carmen Castaños, Director
  • Estefanía “Beba” Contreras, Director
  • Jillian Schlesinger, Producer
  • Miguel Drake-McLaughlin, Producer
  • Leslie Benavides, Producer
  • Ana Rodríguez-Falcó, Producer
  • Diane Ng, Producer
  • Rivkah Beth Medow, Producer
two people standing in light brown dirt with a blue sky and light brown landscape. A train yard and a train are in the distance.

About the Project

In this late-night summer self-portrait, Silvia Castaños and Estefanía Contreras make magic of everyday moments coming of age on the Texas-Mexico border.

Silvia Del Carmen Castaños, Director

Silvia Del Carmen Castaños is a Boston-based filmmaker and transit planner born and raised in Laredo, Texas. In 2018 Silvia's short film, Ocean, won a jury prize at the Laredo International Media & Film Festival. Silvia’s debut feature film, Hummingbirds, is a collaborative self-portrait directed by them and Estefanía Contreras. Their work is supported by Ford Foundation JustFilms, Field of Vision, Arts2Work, Threshold Fund, Sundance Documentary Fund, SFFILM, and Chicken & Egg Pictures, among others. Silvia has represented Hummingbirds as a 2021 NBCU Original Voices Fellow, a 2021 Sundance/WIF Financing Intensive Fellow, a 2021 Points North/LEF Fellow, a 2022 BAVC MediaMaker Fellow, and a 2022-2024 Firelight Documentary Fellow. They have pitched Hummingbirds at forums including Visions du Reel Works in Progress and CMP's Great Chicago Pitch and presented at the 2022 True/False-Catapult Rough Cut Retreat.

Estefanía “Beba” Contreras, Director

Estefanía "Beba" Contreras is a musician, photographer, tattoo artist, and filmmaker born in Mexico and raised in Laredo, Texas. Estefanía's first feature film, Hummingbirds, is a collaborative self-portrait directed with Silvia Castaños about their friendship and life experiences coming of age in Laredo. Their Hummingbirds has received support from Ford Foundation JustFilms, Field of Vision, Arts2Work, Threshold Fund, Sundance Documentary Fund, SFFILM, and Chicken & Egg Pictures, among others. Estefanía is a 2021 NBCU Original Voices Fellow, 2021 Sundance/WIF Financing Intensive Fellow, and a 2022-2024 Firelight Documentary Fellow. She has pitched Hummingbirds at Visions du Reel Works in Progress and CMP's Great Chicago Pitch. Estefanía also presented Hummingbirds at the 2022 True/False-Catapult Rough Cut Retreat. In addition to directing and appearing in Hummingbirds, she is also creating music to accompany the film.