Miraaa RGV
Saturday August 15, 2026
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Cine El Rey
311 S 17th St, McAllen, TX 78501
Festival doors open! Join us for local arts and culture org informational booths, artist check-in and mingling.
Tabling orgs include: Austin Film Society, South Texas Environmental Justice Network, South Texans for Reproductive Justice, Trucha and Entre.
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MIRAAA Festival introduction + Featured Artists block, followed by Q&A with artists present
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BREAK. Check out our local artists and info booths.
Tabling orgs include: Austin Film Society, South Texas Environmental Justice Network, South Texans for Reproductive Justice, Trucha and Entre.
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Commissioned Artists followed by Q&A with artists present
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The Gremlin
322 S 16th St, McAllen, TX 78501
Post-festival food and drink. Food is free and first come, first served. Alcoholic beverages can be purchased at the bar.
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Ponte Creative Studios & Gallery
1305 N. Main St., McAllen, TX 78501
Join the MIRAAA crew & artists for audience awards and the official RGV after party!
Featured shorts
Circadian Point
McAllen, TX 2026
This Short has been a passion project of mine since 2019. I created a similar but smaller project with the same name 7 years ago, but it didn't live up to my expectations. This past year, I was fortunate enough to find myself applying for a 2-week experience with legendary film director Werner Herzog in Spain. Although not accepted, my back-and-forth talks with the Extatica Cine team gave this idea a second chance, and I still booked myself a 4-day-long experience, not to Spain, but to Big Bend National Park. And from there I went. The beauty of the park's natural views elevated my mind and got my creative juices flowing. Going without a script freed my mind from all mental obstacles and made me look at the world like my own natural canvas. This is something I'm sure Werner Herzog would've loved, and something you will enjoy too!
Aaron Salinas
Speaking through the walls
Flagstaff, AZ 2026
The threat of the border wall has loomed over South Texas since 2007. Since then, the people of the Rio Grande Valley have witnessed an unprecedented increase in militarization along the southern border-- a phenomena that has intensified since the Trump Administration took office in 2016. Amidst the promise of additional border fencing and the enactment of a zero tolerance immigration policy, border communities hold strong to teaching tolerance, compassion, and agency. In Speaking through Walls, fronteristas discuss what the border wall symbolizes to those with identities split between countries and how security infrastructure harms transborder migration, the cultural landscape of the borderlands, and the existence of the American Dream.
Jordan Garcia and Clarissa Riojas
Take 5 Presents:
A Portrait of Preservation
McAllen, TX 2026
A look into the process of artist Luis Corpus, who uses raw materials he gathers along the Rio Grande River, such as river water and sticks, to create portraits of people that inhabit both sides of the body of water.
Ricardo Velazquez
Tierra Frontera
Dallas, TX 2026
This film serves as a visual manifesto for the Rio Grande Valley, reclaiming a region often eclipsed by the singular narrative of a "border town." By focusing on the intersection of body, community, and fashion, we reveal a Valley that is both timeless and rapidly shifting. At its heart, the project centers the Mexican-American and Latino experience, celebrating a culture that thrives despite the heated political tensions and militarization that define the border today.
The narrative explores the friction between the RGV’s agricultural soul and the encroaching shadow of the aerospace industry. While corporations like SpaceX stake a claim on the future—often at the expense of the land—our lens remains on the people. We celebrate the resilience of local identities through the medium of fashion, using clothing as a tool of resistance and self-expression to highlight the bodies that have long nurtured this soil.
Filmed across diverse landscapes, the project documents the raw beauty of the Valley, from its sun-drenched fields to the industrial horizons. We aim to honor a community that is frequently "underwashed" in the broader Texas story, asserting that the RGV is not just a site of conflict, but a profound center of culture and life.
Christopher Sonny Martinez and Fabian Guerrero
Deeper water
Eagle Pass, TX 2026
Deeper Water follows the reflection of Rebe's journey from adolescence to adulthood as they navigate the lasting effects of growing up with divorced parents. Through fishing and an unexpected connection that offers a lifeline, they begin to find peace, healing, and a deeper sense of self.
Rebecca Montoya
Fleeting Spaces Futile Lines
Houston, TX 2026
A visual introduction to three separate locations in the Rio Grande Valley in Texas; overlaid with an audio of Robert Frost reading his poem Mending Wall.
Ángela García
Después de la Luz
Laredo, TX 2026
On the day of her quinceañera, Estrella’s transition into womanhood is violently interrupted when an unexpected crisis shatters her family’s sense of security.
Maya Lopez
meet our 2026 commissioned artists
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meet our 2026 commissioned artists *
commissioned shorts
Bravo! Grande
RGV 2026
The spirit of the river reclaims its power, waters, and land by seeking to heal from what is causing it harm.
Commissioned collaboration Marcelina Gonzalez and Carmona Rivera
You bring out the valley in me
RGV 2026
You Bring Out the Valley In Me is a visual poem and love letter to the Rio Grande Valley. In this film, the perspectives of Cecilia from Brownsville and Andrea from Mission intertwine as they reflect on valley identity, their overlapping experiences, individual perspectives, and deep appreciation for their community.
Commissioned collaboration Andrea Flores and Cecilia Sierra
Plaza Eterna
Laredo 2026
A flooding movie theater arises ghosts of memory and identity along the U.S.-Mexico border through experimental dance, archival imagery and layered visual storytelling.
Commissioned collaboration Leann Bernal and Ryan Cerna
Portales en la tierra
Laredo 2026
In many cultures, the river is seen as a portal that invites spirits and land that hears the call of the paths conveyed by sounds. Blessed by the sun and the moon which connects us closer to celestial beings exploring their energy by creating a pathway for them to roam.
Commissioned collaboration Victoria Ramos and Ashley Triston
Don't Ask the River
Eagle Pass 2026
An arrogant husband is having an unfortunate day when he discovers his local river can grant wishes. Drunk on power, the man begins to make irreversible requests.
Commissioned collaboration Josh Anico and Vicky Martinez
Tamal
Eagle Pass 2026
Fredo, Vero, Diana, Chagin, and Tamal make up a local bordertown mystery crew. When eerie sightings of La Llorona empty the Rio Grande banks, the teenagers take the case, investigating the fear haunting their community and uncovering why people no longer want to visit the river.
Commissioned collaboration Clay Fisher and Omar Mireles
Thank you to all of our sponsors!
