Beautiful Borders: Texas-Mexico Crossings in Film and Music is a one-day symposium and film screening focusing on the unique role of music in Texas-Mexico border culture, to be held on February 26, 2026 on the campus of the University of California, Santa Barbara. The event is centered in a public screening of the 50th anniversary 4K restoration of the Les Blank/Chris Strachwitz film Chulas Fronteras (1976), paired with Del Mero Corazón (1979) at the Pollock Theater. The screening will be followed with a Q&A with Maureen Gosling (Assistant Editor of Chulas Fronteras and Director of Del Mero Corazón) and Juan Antonio Cuéllar (Archivist at Los Cenzontles Music and Art Academy), moderated by David Novak (Director of the Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Music). The film screening is preceded by an afternoon symposium during which Gosling and Cuéllar will be joined by Alex Chávez (musician/ anthropologist at Notre Dame and author of the award-winning book Sounds of Crossing), as well as a joint presentation by Monterrey-MX-based archivist and media producer Jorge Balleza of Sabotaje Media with Omar Lozano of Austin, TX label Trucha Soul on contemporary documentations of Texas-Mexico border music. The screening will be preceded by a performance of corridos by Gallo Armado (Monterrey, MX), with DJ sets by Balleza, Lozano and UCSB/KCSB alum Eduardo Camacho (Sonido Sapo) before and after the film screening. All events are free and open to the public. Seats are guaranteed with online ticket reservation at the Pollock Theater website.
Beautiful Borders is organized by the Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Music (CISM), with cosponsorship from the Carsey-Wolf Center, The College of Letters & Science, HFA Dean’s Office, Music Department, Ethnomusicology Forum, KCSB-FM and the Global Latinidades Project.
