Unbelievable! ‘Going Varsity in Mariachi’ – A Must-See Border Story of Latinx Pride!

The charming documentary, “Going Varsity in Mariachi,” which delves into the realm of competitive high school mariachi in Texas, is now accessible for streaming.

The movie, which debuted at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival, became accessible on Netflix the previous week in North and South America via a licensing agreement – Netflix didn’t purchase it but is instead paying a fee for the privilege of streaming it.

Directed by Alejandra Vasquez and Sam Osborn, “Going Varsity in Mariachi” chronicles the journey of the Mariachi Oro de Edinburg North High School band members throughout the 2021-2022 academic year as they strive to clinch the state championship. The film takes place in the Rio Grande Valley, a border region in South Texas where Mexican and American cultures intersect and blend. This area boasts some of the finest mariachi programs in the state, several of which were established long before the University Interscholastic League, the regulatory body that supervises high school extracurricular competitions in Texas, sanctioned its inaugural mariachi contest in 2018.

The documentary captivates viewers with its authentic portrayals of teenagers living their regular lives. With the guidance and leadership of director Abel Acuña, these young musicians master the art of performing mariachi classics like “Volver, Volver” and “El Rey” while juggling everyday high school activities – applying for college, making prom proposals, and learning to drive.

Yet, perhaps the most significant achievement of “Going Varsity in Mariachi” is its fresh depiction of the border, a perspective seldom seen in movies, TV shows, or news. It’s not a tale of immigration or border enforcement, but rather a documentary about the preservation and transmission of cultural traditions to the next generation.

In celebration of the film’s availability on Netflix, I am revisiting a Q&A session I had with the filmmakers shortly after its Sundance debut. The following conversation originally appeared in the Jan. 26, 2023, edition of the newsletter.

What prompted the creation of this film?

Osborn: The project commenced when we learned that UIL was granting mariachi the same recognition as cheerleading, football, and marching band. We were intrigued by the intersection of a culturally specific arts program and its proximity to the border in a state like Texas. We found a wealth of interesting concepts in the mere fact of its existence.

The film struck me as a border story where immigration is not the central theme.

Osborn: We frequently discussed how much we should highlight immigration politics in the film. Some days I’d contemplate, “Folks, there are refugee camps just 30 minutes away on the other side of the border. How can we ignore them?”

However, we ultimately realized that we didn’t want to clumsily shoehorn that into the movie. The mere existence of this team and this program is inherently political. It acknowledges that generations of immigrants have settled on this side of the border and are now educating their children in American schools. The existence of competitive mariachi is a direct consequence of this. These public schools have thriving programs, with schools across the street or state striving to cater to these eager families and students. I wouldn’t categorize it as an immigration story, but rather a story about a population’s evolution generations after crossing the border.

Vasquez: For us, it was crucial to tell a story that foregrounded joy, hope, and excitement. Many Latino stories tend to focus more on trauma and firsthand immigration narratives. While those stories are indeed important, this one felt like a celebration of our culture.

As I watched the film, I couldn’t help but to think about how these kids felt very American. There’s a scene in which mariachi director Abel Acuña asks his students what they know about José Alfredo Jiménez, arguably Mexico’s greatest singer-songwriter, and the best they could muster was that he had a mustache. It felt a little shocking, but it also made me realize that these kids’ roots are one or two generations further entrenched in this country than my own.

Osborn: It’s a mix, right? The film doesn’t explicitly go into this but some of the kids are translating for their parents, some have undocumented parents, and there are others who don’t speak Spanish. They’ve never heard of José Alfredo Jiménez. It really is a mix. Entering the classroom for the first time, we were struck by how they had different connections to the music and to their culture.

Vasquez: What we thought was special was that they were all making the choice to learn mariachi. They all auditioned to be there, and even if they don’t have such a strong connection to mariachi, they still made the choice to be there. They weren’t forced.

It’s funny because I grew up in the RGV and mariachi was definitely a thing at my high school, but I didn’t realize just how competitive it really is. As your film points out, there’s no better example of that than the mariachi program at Roma High School. Can you tell me a little bit more about that?

Vasquez: Roma is the shining star of the mariachi world. They start out in the fifth grade, where they take an aptitude test first and then they audition. You can’t join the varsity team if you weren’t already in the mariachi program in the fifth grade.

Osborn: Something we haven’t talked much about is the institutionalization that’s happening to mariachi, where it’s being shifted to be this very American, competition-oriented thing. There’s this trend toward institutionalization, where it becomes less of a cantina or club thing and becomes more of a school thing. I have mixed feelings on this. On the one hand, it helps take stock of mariachi’s history and really honors it. But a lot of people could probably also argue that it’s holding it back in some ways. I wonder how this process will affect this traditionally Mexican music.

Vasquez: It’s also happening to conjunto, which is so fascinating. Conjunto programs are growing across the RGV and all over Texas. Coach Abel Acuña now has a conjunto program and started teaching a conjunto class this year. It’s been so popular that it’s expanded to two classes.

There’s a scene that just blew me away. It takes place after the kids compete at the Mariachi Vargas Extravaganza in San Antonio, and they’re sitting in the classroom very deflated. To get them back on track, the teacher asks them earnestly what mariachi means to them. One of the students says she first heard the music at a funeral and was taken aback how it could evoke such feelings. She did an amazing job at capturing the essence of mariachi, that it’s so visceral and something you feel.

Vasquez: We love that scene.

Osborn: I think that’s the heart of the movie. We restrained ourselves from giving people a history lesson on what mariachi actually is, and having that scene kind of filled that gap for us. These students are recognizing how mariachi can function in their lives without having learned the play-by-play, Wikipedia version of the history. They get to experience it instead of being lectured about it. Mariachi is a way you can express your emotions, feel included in your culture and in your high school.

How did you two choose Edinburg North High School as the program to chronicle in your documentary?

Vasquez: What we really loved about that program was Coach Acuña and his philosophy. We had made a short film on the same team in 2020, and we really learned that he was not just about the trophies. He was more about how mariachi can be used in these students’ lives and how it can enrich them and their culture, how it can get them through high school and into adulthood. Meeting him and learning more about his philosophy and his approach made us interested in making something longer with him.

Osborn: We didn’t want to make a straight-up competition film, either. We wanted to make something that felt more coming of age and a little looser. It’s more about these kids’ lives instead of whether they’ll be champions or not.

Why is it that schools in the Rio Grande Valley dominate these competitions?

Vasquez: There’s a lot of reasons. Because they’re on the border. Because you can study mariachi in middle school, high school and in college in the RGV— a lot of these educators went to school and studied mariachi at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, and now they’re mariachi directors in their own right.

Osborn: Dr. Dahlia Guerra, who runs the mariachi program at UTRGV, I believe the majority of the school program directors in the region were trained by them. There’s this whole tree of mariachi training, and most stay in the region.

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