Catherine Hardwicke screened Miss Bala at the AFS Cinema in Austin, Texas this past Monday, and we sat down to talk. to her about the excitement (and danger) of filming across the border. She offered “This is all set in a border Town in Texas, and since I’m from McAllen, it’s very cool that this movie shows the class and mix of two cultures, and how each makes the other one richer. We filmed literally along the famous Border Wall, you’ll see the metal wall in the background. It’s a hot topic. It’s about people who live on both sides of the border and don’t quite fit in on one side or another – too gringo to be Mexican, too Mexican to be gringo. It’s a really cool identity thing that we dealt with in this film.”

AUSTIN, TEXAS - JANUARY 28: Directors Catherine Hardwicke (R) and Richard Linklater attend a special screening of Miss Bala at AFS Cinema on January 28, 2019 in Austin, Texas(Photo by Gary Miller/Getty Images for Sony Pictures)