Password

Echoes of the Rio

One El Paso filmmaker calls on her Indigenous and Mexican ancestors to explore the cyclical starvation of the Rio Grande river and the human and inhumane factors contributing to the disappearance of its culture and bounty.

  • Jackie Barragan
    Director
  • Nick Price
    Producer
    Reel South
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Short
  • Runtime:
    7 minutes 56 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    October 6, 2023
  • Production Budget:
    20,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Hot Springs Film Festival
  • New Orleans Film Festival
Director Biography - Jackie Barragan

Jackie Barragan is native to the U.S./Mexico Border and of Mexican Indigenous heritage. She graduated from UTEP with a Bachelor’s in Anthropology and a Minor in Dance. During her studies, she's focused on indigenous cultures of the Americas, environmental racism, and studied extensively with the Zapatista movement. Jackie Barragan is a multidisciplinary border artist and filmmaker. Jackie directed and produced the short film documentary JOSIE which screened nationally at a variety of film festivals and received 1st Place and the Audience Choice Awards at the Plaza Classic Film Festival. Jackie directed and produced the short film documentary Ome:Ceremonial Tattoos which screened on the PBS channel, Only In El Paso. Currently, she is in post-production for Aug. 3rd, a short documentary about the mass shooting that occurred in El Paso, Texas in 2019. Barragan is also a part of the Femme Frontera Film collective, an organization of Latinx female-identifying filmmakers based out of the border whose purpose is to create more opportunities for Latinx, BIPOC, non-binary, and queer filmmakers in order to uplift voices in underrepresented communities.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

I am called to tell stories that tend to lay in the shadows of society. Stories that are honest and inspiring while being rooted in a multi-dimensional human experience. I am not afraid to expose the harsh realities that exist in my world. As a Border artist, and a Mexican/Indigenous American, I think it’s important to allow ourselves to share our deepest trials and tribulations as well as our aspirations and dreams for a more equitable world. This is crucial in a society where underrepresented communities are often forced into limiting and dangerous stereotypes.

The importance of sharing diverse and complex stories that exist on the border is imperative to me as a film director and writer. My intention is to create space to reveal the complicated realities that expand beyond the realm of the media and conventional, biased filmmaking that often takes place in border storytelling.