Content Warning: This article contains mentions of abortion and incarceration.

While the True/False Film Fest is a documentary film festival, “Hummingbirds” — one of the feature films showcased at the 2023 Fest — presents itself more like a home video. The 78-minute film follows friends and directors Silvia Del Carmen Castanos and Estefania “Beba” Contreras through their late teenage years.

In the film, the two girls spend their days in Laredo, Texas, grappling with difficulties that range from U.S. immigration procedures to the complexities of their personal lives.

Stark honesty and transparency are infused throughout the film, especially when it comes to telling the main characters’ stories. Beba’s life was spent primarily in Laredo, for instance, but she had not yet managed to get her green card, constantly facing setbacks like incorrect paperwork.

At one point in the film, Beba tells Silvia about a time she spent the night in jail with her mom after being caught by Border Patrol. The girls mention multiple times throughout “Hummingbirds” that they feel like they were never able to fully enjoy their childhood because of the struggles they had to persist through in their younger years.

Silvia also reflects on the abortion she got the year prior, adding additional weight to the film’s plot. She advocates for Planned Parenthood — vandalizing anti-abortion signs and participating as an ambassador for the organization.

The film conveys these hardships in a way that is still relatively upbeat. It’s almost as if the viewer is right there with the pair of best friends, watching a shaky film about their mundane tasks, explorations of life and sentimental moments with family and friends.

The film presents no concrete story arc or solutions to the problems the main characters face because in real life, there are no simple solutions to these problems. The film takes a chunk of the Texas girls’ lives and puts it on display for the audience.

The raw emotion of some scenes was undeniable. The most notable is near the end of the film when Silvia reads a poem she wrote to Beba. Her heartfelt poem told Beba of the deep platonic love she has for her.

This scene perfectly encapsulates the overall theme of the film: the joy and simplicity of close female friendships. The support system these two girls built around each other was positive and uplifting. Even when it seems like they could be struggling due to their circumstances, the next scene in the movie would depict them dancing and laughing together.

The ending to the film was tear-jerking and shiver-inducing, even though the plot catered to the girls’ daily lives, rather than an artificial narrative arc. Instead, the film presented reality in a genuine way.

From the documentary, viewers can take away that even in the hardest of times, there are people and things to appreciate. There is simplicity in loving people platonically, and both filmmakers came together to convey this idea beautifully.

Edited by Savvy Sleevar | ssleevar@themaneater.com
Copy edited by Mary Philip