Category: Border
AL OTRO LADO
Border, Country/Region, Economics/Development, Latinos/Chicanos, Mexico, Migration/Immigration, USAAmericas: Part 3
"Continent on the Move" This program examines the causes and effects of one of the most important forces transforming the Americas: the migration of vast numbers of people within the region. The program is set in Mexico, where migration has moved people across borders, and from rural villages to congested cities.
Border, Latin America, Mexico, Migration/ImmigrationBajo El Tacaná
Bajo el Tecaná is a short documentary about a group of women migrants, who are interviewed by a group of researchers, before heading to the north. The film takes place in the village of Soconusco, Chiapas on the border between Guatemala and Mexico. Made with the support from Mexican Commission on Human Rights and the OIM ( International Organization for Migration), this film combines text, testimonials and images.
Subject: Border, Migration/Immigration
Boda, La / The Wedding
You are invited to the wedding of Elizabeth and Artemio in Nuevo León, Mexico. The video introduces a young couple whose lives and community have roots in Mexico while they encounter the challenges of migrant life in the United States.
Border, Latinos/Chicanos, Mexico, Migration/Immigration, USABorder Brujo
The acclaimed performance artist Guillermo Gómez-Peña directs himself in this video focusing on issues of cross-culturalism along the U.S.-Mexico border. In his performance he switches in and out of various characters reflecting different aspects of border culture.
Art, Border, Cinema/Theater, Mexico, Migration/Immigration, USABorderline Cases
Nearly 2000 maquiladoras have been built in Mexico by companies from the US, Asia and Europe. As a result, the border has become a 2000 mile-long open sewer, a vast toxic waste dump. Filmed in three border regions, (Matamoros and Brownsville; Tijuana and San Diego; Ciudad Juarez and El Paso), Borderline Cases reveals the complexity and magnitude of the clean-up and gives a sense of energy and imagination found in the diverse mix of people of both countries who are re-thinking traditional notions of borders as they engage in the search for solutions.
Border, Economics/Development, Mexico, Politics/Human Rights, USACrosses / Cruces
In 1995, the U.S. Border Patrol instituted Operation Gatekeeper, which has caused the death of about 1800 migrants since its implementation. CROSSES documents the efforts of artists and activists to bring the disastrous effects of Operation Gatekeeper to the conscience of the people of both the U.S. and Mexico, and to pressure the governments of both countries. By representing every death with a cross bearing the name of the victim, mounted directly on the border wall, they keep the issues alive. Crosses are still visible today.
Border, Mexico, Migration/Immigration, USADe Nadie
Individuals who leave their countries in hopes of a better life in the United States have a rough road ahead of them. Mexican filmmaker Tin Dirdamal follows a number of refugees in a refugee center in southern Mexico, from whence they hitch illegal rides on freight trains to the northern border.
Border, Mexico, Migration/Immigration, Social IssuesFiesta Quinceañera, La
This two-part video depicts a young Mexican-American woman's fifteenth birthday celebration. Set in Dallas, Texas and Reynosa, Mexico, the first part consists of a discussion of the preparations, planning, and logistics that have to be considered in planning this important social event. The second part observes the actual ceremony through various stages after the preparations are completed for the mass, the party, and the dance that traditionally follow.
Border, Gender/Sexuality, Latinos/Chicanos, Mexico, USALos Que Se Quedan
An award-winning and discerning depiction of the impact of migration on Mexican families and villages left behind by loved ones who have traveled North for work.
Border, Economics/Development, Latinos/Chicanos, Migration/Immigration, Social IssuesLost Souls
Follow filmmaker Monika Navarro on her eight-year journey to understand the tragedy and triumph of her family history - a history of immigration and deportation, substance abuse and absent fathers, old patterns and new beginnings. In this touching account, Monika manages to pain of her own father's neglect by reconnecting with her Uncle Augie, a drug addict and distant father who had been deported to Mexico and was trying to forge a new life in the wake of his brother's tragic heroin overdose. Taking viewers from San Diego to Guadalajara, to Tijuana and back again, Lost Souls (Animas Perdidas) demonstrates the complex struggle drug addicts and their loved ones must endure, and the importance of forgiveness and support in breaking the generational cycle of substance abuse.
Border, Migration/Immigration, Social IssuesMariachi, El
The critically-acclaimed film debut from Robert Rodríguez, shot with no second takes using borrowed equipment and a talented cast of unknowns. A case of deadly mistaken identity leads the protagonist, who aspires only to be a mariachi, to trade his guitar for a gun and play for his life in this vision of bandido violence in Mexico.
Border, Drama, Mexico, Social Issues, USANatives: Immigrant Bashing On The Border
This film depicts the disturbing increase in racism, violence and intolerance along the US-Mexican border in recent years. NATIVES examines the concerns of some of the individuals involved in San Diego's anti-immigrant movement. Relying principally on a cinema vérité style and avoiding explanatory narration, the film seeks to critique the nativist position by contrasting their professed love for their country with their racist and anti-democratic attitudes.
Border, Mexico, Migration/Immigration, USANew World Border
New World Border documents the rise in human rights abuses along the U.S.-Mexico border since the implementation of border blockades, which have been erected in populated areas throughout the border region during the last decade. This film includes interviews with immigrant rights organizers, testimony from immigrants, analysis of “free trade” policies & current efforts to build a vibrant movement for immigrant rights.
Border, Country/Region, Economics/Development, Environment/Geography, Mexico, Subject, USANorte, El
Mayan Indian peasants organize in an effort to improve their lot in life. After the army destroys their village and kills their family, a teenage brother and sister decide they must flee to El Norte. After receiving clandestine help from friends and humorous advice from a veteran immigrant on strategies for traveling through Mexico, they arrive in Los Angeles, where they try to make a new life as young, uneducated, and illegal immigrants.
Border, Drama, Latinos/Chicanos, Mexico, Migration/Immigration, USAOtro Lado, El
Americans simply pass through the turnstiles for cheap thrills in Tijuana. Mexicans on the other side, however, face endless barriers of barbed wire, attack dogs, and armed border patrols. Alex Webb captures the odd panorama of the border.
Border, Latinos/Chicanos, Mexico, USARoots Of Migration
A journey by US citizens to Oaxaca, Mexico reveals the global forces that have pushed millions of people to migrate to the United States. Learn first-hand why people make the journey north, why they wish they didn't have to, and what effect their migration has on their communities back home. Shot entirely on location in Oaxaca, Mexico during a fact-finding trip organized by Witness for Peace co-founder, Gail Phares.
Border, Economics/Development, Latinos/Chicanos, Mexico, Migration/Immigration, USASin Nombre
Seeking the promise of America, a beautiful young woman, Sayra, joins her father on an odyssey to cross the gauntlet of the Latin America countryside. Along the way, she crosses paths with a teenaged Mexican gang member, El Casper, who is maneuvering to outrun his violent past. Together they have to rely on faith, trust and street smarts if they are to survive their increasingly perilous journey towards the hope of new lives.
Border, MexicoSleep Dealer
Sleep Dealer is a futuristic science fiction story set in a world not much different from our own, in which borders are closed, and a global, high speed network ties distant people and places together. The story centers on 3 characters who inhabit very different spaces in this world: a migrant, a soldier, and a writer. Sleep Dealer won the Alfred P. Sloan Prize at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival and was nominated for both the Gotham and Independent Spirit awards. Geoffrey Gilmore, the festival director, describes the movie as "a combination of The Matrix, Blade Runner, and The Border". Already a Latino Sci-Fi classic, this film has been praised by critics and audiences alike.
Border, Cinema/Theater, Drama, Latinos/Chicanos, Mexico, Migration/Immigration, USA