This year's Hecho en Tejas Competition celebrates Texas filmmakers capturing lives rarely seen on screen. Intimate, urgent, and rooted in real communities, these films ask what it means to survive, remember, and resist. The films in this showcase are eligible for both an Audience Award and a Jury Award, presented in partnership with the Texas Archive of the Moving Image (TAMI). Meet the directors, cast your vote, and stay for the party!

¡Ay, Dios!
Directed by Eduardo Meza-Roquebert
United States

A young man struggles to save face with his friends and family after a revelation at a community gathering.

El Lloron
Directed by Rodrigo Moreno-Fernandez
United States, Mexico

Felipe is a professional mourner. He is compensated for lamenting and comforting grieving families during funerals.

Grin
Directed by Camilo Montoya
United States, Colombia

A young immigrant’s day delivering food takes an unexpected turn when he finds a stuffed animal and the girl who’s looking for it.

La playa de la gente (The People’s Beach)
Directed by C. Díaz
United States

On August 31, 2024, ENTRE Film Center & Regional Archive hosted Playa de Memorias, a beach happening at Boca Chica Beach, a humble yet deeply historical coastline that reaches the mouth of the Rio Grande River. Boca Chica Beach has long served as a community beach and sanctuary, now at risk of erasure as private corporations harm this fragile ecosystem and restrict access to public land.

Le Falta Sal (It Needs Salt)
Directed by Mayra Estrada
United States

As her son says goodbye, a dying woman’s hand begins to cook a final meal.

Lessons Learned in Cotulla
Directed by Oddett Garza
United States

Four Mexican-American women reflect on their journeys to pursue higher education despite the systemic barriers of their time.

Marisol’s Boutique
Directed by Mia Chiessa
United States

A woman reflects on the obstacles in starting her quinceañera dress shop, and the traditions she wants to preserve with the shop moving forward.

Subtract Nine Sundays
Directed by Julya Jara
United States

An affluent employer calls in his live-in nanny to settle unpaid wages; his unquestioned authority meets her resolute agency. Adapted from an Anton Chekhov short story and set in contemporary Texas, “Subtract Nine Sundays” explores the dynamics of power.

Tito Ritmo (Grandfather Rhythm)
Directed by Ulises Cordova
United States

In early 1941, a zoot suit toting mechanic enters a “dance till you drop” competition in order to win a new car. In 2009, the car is now in the family lineage, and his grandson attempts to sell the classic car out of financial desperation.

Una Nave Frágil (A Fragile Vessel)
Directed by Samuel Díaz Fernández
United States

As the world around them scorches under record heat, a family walks into the woods, asking what the future holds in this thermal dystopia. Their conversations map survival in a world reshaped by heat.