Thread: SAN DIEGO: local film premier of "The Border."

SAN DIEGO -- Viewers reacted strongly Monday when they attended the local film premier of "The Border."


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The documentary uses cameras equipped with night vision to document undocumented immigrants. The film contains compelling and sometimes graphic images of some very serious problems along the U.S.-Mexican border, and critics are saying that the events in the film are taken out of context.


"You can talk and talk, but when you show it in a picture, it really stands out," Vista resident Bill Jenson said.

About 150 people gathered in Escondido on Monday night to screen the film.

During the span of about 30 days, the filmmakers recorded repeated cases of drug and human trafficking, rape and numerous deaths along the border.

"They're not isolated incidents," said Todd Perry, who edited the film.

"Isolated," however, is what critics are calling the film's point of view.

"It's very one-sided," Border Angels spokesman Enrique Morones told NBC 7/39. "It's very anti-immigrant. It does not tell the truth."

Immigrant advocates claim the film portrays illegal immigrants as violent criminals.

"I think that to a certain extent, the movie plays into a fear element," said Pedro Rios, of the American Friends Service Committee. "

"We know that there are situations in which there's crime from the undocumented community, of course -- just like in the documented community -- but they exaggerate everything, they blow the numbers out of proportion," Morones said.

The filmmakers argue that they were merely observers recording what they saw and claim the criticism actually proves that.

"We've also had people say we're too hard on the administration, we're too hard on the president, we're too hard on business … and so we kind of get punched from both sides," Perry said

The film is on a screening tour around the country that includes 38 cities.
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http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/14822788/detail.html

Local residents weigh in on documentary depicting border struggles

By: JENNIFER KABBANY - For the North County Times
Award-winning film shown in Escondido tackles both sides of divisive issue

ESCONDIDO -- Local residents got their first look this week at an award-winning documentary called "Border," which depicts the harsh realities found along the long stretches of desert and small towns that make up the U.S.-Mexico border.

The nearly two-hour film, which debuted in September 2006 and has since been shown at schools and community theaters across the country as part of a national tour, was presented Monday night to about 200 people at Escondido Charter High School.

The documentary blends interviews, footage along the border and statistics to present its case that there is an illegal immigration crisis largely ignored by a majority of Americans. The film also places most of the blame for the crisis on the U.S. and Mexican governments, so-called 'coyotes' and drug cartels instead of on illegal immigrants. Ã

Bummer....I wish I knew it was here. Sorry I missed it.