United States
Ben Fundis, Clara Long and John Drew
www.borderstories.org (08/15/2008)
Our crew travels the length of the U.S.–Mexico border, from Brownsville, Texas to Tijuana, Mexico in search of stories that portray the human face of this politically and emotionally-charged region. Our hope is that these voices will carry beyond the border towns and into the interiors of both countries to deepen the understanding of the unique challenges the region faces.
National security, immigration, and cultural change are highly emotional issues in American political discourse. So highly-charged are they that the fundamental rights of every human as laid out in the UDHR can fade to the background of public conversation. Border Stories, a web-based documentary exploring the length of the longest boundary between the developed and developing world, is an effort to promote tolerance by showcasing the humanity behind border issues. We present a mosaic of hyper-focused films from both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border that illustrate, among other rights, everyone's right to live in freedom and safety (Art 3), and to work and get a salary (Art 23). For example, in Born and Raised (http://borderstories.org/index.php/nogales-born-and-raised.html), a young man who was born in Mexico and raised in the United States grapples with being sent back to Mexico after 17 years in the U.S. In High Pointer (http://borderstories.org/index.php/campo-high-pointer.html), a member of an American anti-immigrant vigilante group explains why he thinks it's up to him to defend his country. In Mr. Nobody (http://borderstories.org/index.php/campo-high-pointer.html), a Guatemalan immigrant on the eve of an attempt to cross into the United States describes what it's like to feel invisible. These stories and a score of others in the series aim to portray the dignity and complexity of people who may not understand each other and move viewers to appreciate and value everyone's human rights.
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