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Logline

As free-spirited Lucia prepares to leave her bordertown home for Mexico City in 1972, her responsible, older sister Griselda struggles to hold it together until a final moment at a streetcar stop cracks open the silence between them.

Synopsis

Oranges is a short film set in the 1970s in El Paso that follows a quiet goodbye between two sisters, Griselda and Lucia, at a streetcar stop. The story unfolds in Sunset Heights, a historic neighborhood where the streetcar once connected the U.S. and Mexico, crossing over from El Paso into Ciudad Juárez. The story is underscored by unspoken words, as Lucia leaves home to chase her dreams while Griselda must stay behind to care for their sick mother.

Oranges is not a border story defined by chaos or violence. It’s an intimate portrait of love and its beauty, its fractures, and its ability to endure across distance and time. In today’s climate, where the border is more often shaped by restriction than connection, this story looks back to a time when crossing felt natural and simple. Today, the streetcar has returned to El Paso, but it no longer crosses into Mexico. This story aims to paint a picture of a world that once was, not as an act of nostalgia but to reimagine what belonging and borderland identity can still mean even today — if only we could reconnect.
 

Meet the Filmmakers

Valeria Contreras — Writer/Director
Valeria Contreras is an award-winning filmmaker from El Paso, Texas. She is a Producers Guild of America Create Fellow, Film Independent Producing Lab Fellow, Cine Qua Non Storylines Lab Fellow, and El Paso Community Foundation Border Art Resident.

Her debut short, Homesick, shot in Downtown El Paso, screened globally, and she has produced acclaimed shorts including Wolf at the Door and Not My Name, which won the Focus Features Award for Social and Cultural Impact. She is the founder of Apis Mellifera Productions, with a focus on bold, global storytelling.

Valeria is in development on multiple feature screenplays including Oranges and the Untitled Texas Latina Project, an anthology feature film exploring Latine identity in Texas alongside five award-winning Latina directors. The project has received support from the Austin Film Society, SFFilm, WarnerMedia, and The Gotham.

Valeria is a graduate of the University of Chicago and Columbia University, where she earned an MFA and received the Hausman Foundation Award and 3Pas Studios Award.

Soumya Singh — Producer
Soumya is an Indian Creative Producer with six years of experience across film, music, and fashion. She began her film career as an assistant to Academy Award winner Jared Leto and has since produced a range of creative work, including assistant producing The Great 14th: Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama in His Own Words and Netflix’s culturally resonant series Indian Matchmaking. Soumya has also associate produced Stewart Copeland’s Oratorio Doc Satan’s Fall.

Most recently, she produced RETRACE, a socially driven film starring and executive produced by Suraj Sharma (Life of Pi) alongside Rajshri Deshpande (Trial by Fire), which addresses the crisis of women’s mental health and false institutionalization in India. The project is currently in partnership with Human Rights Watch and the NGO Baapu Trust to support advocacy and outreach for these women.

Soumya’s work reflects a commitment to globally conscious storytelling, amplifying underrepresented voices through bold, cinematic expression. Soumya also holds an MFA in Creative Producing from Columbia University.

Rebeca Durán — Director of Photography
Rebeca Durán is an Albuquerque/Los Angeles based filmmaker from Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. After receiving her BFA in Film+Television from New York University – Tisch, Rebeca relocated to New Mexico to begin a career in filmmaking.

She is an IATSE Local 600 member and has worked on many productions as a Cinematographer, Camera Operator and FAA-licensed UAS pilot. With a focus on compelling narratives and calculated imagery, Rebeca’s recent work includes feature film Pan American, Can-Am’s Women of On-Road campaign, and accoladed music video Adult Children Part II.

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Contact

For inquiries, please contact fiscalsponsorship@filmindependent.org.