El Inmigrante
Running Time: 90 minutes
Language: Spanish, English (English subtitles)
"El Inmigrante" is a documentary film that examines the Mexican and American border crisis by telling the story of Eusebio de Haro, a young Mexican migrant who was shot and killed during one of his journeys north.
The film opens with a broad introduction of the subject — Mexican migrants dying along the U.S. Mexican border. The filmakers segue into the Arizona and Texas deserts where, against the backdrop of migrants preparing to cross the border, a diverse group of individuals are interviewed, including migrants in the process of crossing, the U.S. Mounted Border Patrol, members of the Minuteman Project, and migrant relief activists.
From there, the film arrives in San Felipe de Torres Moches in central Mexico, a town from which many migrants head north, and begins to get to know Eusebio's family. We discover that they run a custom fireworks factory as their primary source of income.
Concurrently the character of Sam Blackwood, the man who shot Eusebio, is developed through the tales of several residents residing in Sam's home of Brackettville, Texas.
The incident between Sam and Eusebio is then recounted through the voices of Jorge de Haro, the last family member to see Eusebio alive, Diego de Haro, Eusebio's brother, Javier Javier Sanchez, Eusebio's traveling companion and witness to the murder, and Buddy Burgess, the sheriff of Brackettville who arrived at the murder scene just as Eusebio passed away.
In the aftermath of the incident the rest of the film dedicates itself to discussion of the border issues and possible solutions to the problems. The film ends with the bittersweet notion that through consciousness and intelligence the United States and Mexico can be good neighbors who can solve the issues facing our borders.
"El Inmigrante" is the winner of the "Best Documentary Film" at the Harlem International Film Festival, and has been screened at many festivals in the United States and Mexico.
Trailer
Director's Statement
"The production of "El Inmigrante" began in the fall of 2003. We sought to make a documentary film about United States and Mexico border issues which did not treat the Mexican migrant as part of a faceless problematic horde. Our intention was focus on a single incident along the border and thereby put a human face on a highly politicized subject.
"The hope was to avoid stereotypes and generalizations, and, even more so, to let policy and empiricism take a back seat to the narrative. If anything we did not seek to simplify the issues, but rather we wanted to reveal their inherit complexities. After months of research we found the story of Eusebio de Haro, and with incredible cooperation with his family and the folks in Brackettville, Texas we where able to proceed with our project.
"The film was shot on 24p video on Panasonic AGDVX-100 and 100A cameras. It was filmed over four segments with different crew iterations each trip.
"The first segment was shot in March 2004 around the desert of Sasabe, Mexico and ended in El Paso, Texas where we filmed the Border Patrol scenes. The second trip in May 2004 was focused around Agua Prieta and Altar, Mexico.
"The bulk of the film was shot the following August in Brackettville, Texas, San Felipe and Nuevo Laredo in Mexico. This was the shoot that documented our main characters and locales.
"Lastly in November 2004 we went back to San Felipe to film the Day of the Dead scenes and also to shoot some pickup scenes back in Texas.
"The intense editing began February 2005 and continued through May. In June and July, final sound mix was completed and subtitles where added. Overall, the process from idea to finished film was completed just shy of two years."
