Screening of Chulas Fronteras and Q&A with Dr. Deborah Vargas


 Film and Media Studies     Jan 31 2019 | 4:00 PM - 6:00 PM McCormick Screening Room 1070 Humanities Gateway

Latin American Studies in Motion series
Screening of the documentary Chulas Fronteras, dir. Les Blank (1976)

Followed by a talk by Dr. Deborah Vargas,
Rutgers University

Thursday, January 31st
4 p.m.
McCormick Screening Room
1070 Humanities Gateway
This event is generously co-sponsored by the Film and Media Studies Department and the Chicano-Latino Studies Department.

Chulas Fronteras is a vérité style documentary film that tells the story of the Norteño music played on both sides of the Mexico–Texas border. It offers an insightful look at the Chicano experience as mirrored in the lives and music of the most acclaimed Norteño musicians of the Texas-Mexican border, and depicts the grassroots recording industry and radio networks being built around the music. Chulas Fronteras was selected by The Library Of Congress to be added to the National Film Registry list.

Dr. Deborah Vargas is Associate Professor and Henry Rutgers Term Chair in Comparative Sexuality, Gender, and Race at Rutgers University. In her book, Dissonant Divas in Chicana Music: The Limits of La Onda (Minnesota University Press, 2012) she devotes a chapter to the accordeon-style music that is characteristic of the Texan borderlands conjuntos that are featured in the film. We are honored to have her share her expertise on this popular music, its recording, and its vital role in community life in this region

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