Jonathan Adams

Stories on the Border

h/t Immigration Prof

A group of filmmakers recently took a trip along the U.S/Mexico border collecting stories to create a series of short films documenting life on both sides of the border. The videos are available borderstories.org

The stories are geographically organized (from Brownsville to Tijuana). We crisscrossed the border the entire way. We went into people’s backyards and asked them how the border is affecting them. We wanted to humanize the issue. Our notion is that by traversing the entire border and sharing voices and then presenting them in one place, people can begin to see how dynamic and complex the region is. The mainstream media is driven by pundit analysis. This is an opportunity to see where there’s some common ground or empathy for the other side.

They all have resonance, and each story is different. I do think what we did in Arizona was incredibly fascinating. In Arizona, we did five stories: two on the Mexico side, and three on the U.S. side. We talked to the founder of (Humane Borders). The organization was able to solicit funding from (Pima County) based on a cost-benefit analysis; they found that it was cheaper to provide water (for immigrants) than to remove their dead bodies. We juxtaposed that with a story about the Border Patrol. They were both American viewpoints about the same subject, and yet they’re totally different. The Arizona stories capture how politicized the border is. [Tucson Weekly]

Posted at 12:33 PM, Jul 16, 2008 in Immigration | Permalink | View Comments