Chulas Fronteras

Chulas Fronteras (English: Beautiful Borderlands or Beautiful Borders) is a 1976 American documentary film which tells the story of the norteño or conjunto music which is played on both sides of the Mexico–Texas border. It was directed by Les Blank. A CD soundtrack of the music played in the film is also available, under the same title.

In 1993, this film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

Why It Rocks

 * 1) Not so long ago, regional music was mostly unknown outside of its specific audience. “Race” and ethnic records were produced and sold locally, or narrowly marketed to insular communities, and public exposure was uncommon. The film is from two such ethnomusicologists who worked to preserve Tex-Mex/Tejano music, with the documentary showcasing just how essential Tejano music is and presenting the music genre to a wider audience.
 * 2) The documentary provides a complex, insightful look at the Chicano experience as mirrored in the lives and music of some of the most acclaimed Norteño musicians of the Texas-Mexican border, including Flaco Jimenez and Lydia Mendoza, but also additional artists such as Los Pinguinos del Norte. There's also the glimpses provided into a way of life that was never documented properly in an American film. The musicians, farmers, workers and families in the film are trying to carve out an identity in a society that doesn't want them to have one, and preserve their traditions rather than assimilate.
 * 3) The film revolves around social and familial relationships in the culture which fostered Tex-Mex music. While there are several sequences shot in “traditional” performance venues (dances, clubs), many of the songs in the film are performed at (or played over footage of) private gatherings such as an anniversary party, a holiday celebration, a barbecue, a mock cockfight, a political campaign event, and a birthday party (complete with a piñata). There's also an emphasis on family ties are emphasized: three generations of the Jiménez family are depicted (Flaco Jimenez as well as his father and son), and Rumel Fuentes' brother Diddy is shown before Rumel himself.
 * 4) With over a dozen norteña songs featured within the film, it's a vivid introduction to Tex-Mex music. It's an insistent, driving mix of accordion and baja sexto that's one of the glories of Tex-Mex culture. Some of the songs include the titular "Chulas Fronteras". two songs from Flaco Jimenez in the prime of his career, a rendition of the “Canción mixteca,” (about intetnal migration), more specific political and social content later in the film: “Los rinches de Texas” [The Texas Rangers], the “Corrido de César Chávez,” and “Chicano” all refer to cultural/political clashes between Mexican-Americans and the Anglo American power structure, and the film's final song “Mexico-Americano” that celebrates the duality of Mexican heritage and their American citizenship.
 * 5) The majority of the film features no dialogue or even narration, which allows the viewers to focus on the sights and sounds of the local music and culture.
 * 6) An eclectic mix of film techniques is utilized for the documentary: talking-head interviews; film of live performances; recordings played over actuality footage of the Texas countryside, migrant workers in the fields, and records being pressed by hand; vintage photographs; scenes of people at work and in social situations. As a result, some sections resemble a traditional, interview-based documentary, while others reside in the more abstract, “tone poem” (or, a precursor to what's now known as a  “music video”) end of the spectrum, with most of the film falling between these two extremes.