Filmmaker Robie Flores stood before the audience of alumni, aspiring filmmakers and students on Tuesday explaining that the film they were about to see was not only a love letter to her hometown of Eagle Pass, Texas, but a love letter to the border itself.
On Oct. 8, Robie was joined by her brother Alejandro J. Flores for a screening of their documentary “The In Between” at the G. B. Dealey Center for New Media. The film explores the lives of adolescents living on the Texas-Mexico border through the eyes of Robie. After the death of her brother, she returns to her hometown, capturing memories from her childhood and life on La Frontera. After the screening, Robie and her brother answered questions from the audience and the moderator, radio-television-film assistant professor Iliana Sosa.
“This is a film about searching for memory,” Robie said. “Through that search, we get the identity trajectory of what it’s like to grow up on the border.”
After facing rejection from every festival they entered in 2023, Robie and Alejandro Flores said they edited the film more. The pair created three versions before the final film. From start to finish they said “The In Between” took seven years to make.
“I’m so grateful for that rejection,” Alejandro said. “It’s part of the process that we don’t talk enough about … how much growth and opportunity there is in that to make the work better and to strengthen (your) opinion and voice.”
“The In Between” premiered at South by Southwest this year, but Alejandro said making a film together as siblings was something he and Robie agreed on during their childhood.
“In the way that writers write what they know, I should just film what I know,” Robie said, “What I know of this place is growing up.”
Alejandro said the reception from their hometown has been amazing. He said he felt happy to hear from those outside of their community who have been able to connect with “The In Between,” despite their differing backgrounds.
“There (are) so many experiences that make us similar, that’s (what) we should capitalize on,”Alejandro said. “We should be talking about how we (can) make our community even more attractive for people to come and experience it, be a part of it and celebrate it.”
Alumna Megan Tawater (advertising, ‘14), who attended the Tuesday screening, said she wasn’t expecting the film to be so personal.
“I thought it was really beautiful,” Tawater said. “It made me feel a lot of different emotions. It brought me peace, it made me happy and people were laughing out loud too.”
“The In Between” continues to have showings and will be available for streaming on PBS next year. Robie and Alejandro said they are starting on their next collaboration.
“We are preliminarily working on a second feature,” Alejandro said. “It’s going to be fiction. We want to do it on the border again, and it’s going to be a teen adventure.”
