Reviewed by Viken Nokhoudian
After years of political polemics regarding illegal immigration and border enforcement, this documentary is a refreshing, open-eyed look at the situation on the ground. Actor-turned-director Chris Burgard has taken his camera crew on location to get to the heart of the matter.
Burgard’s film follows his enormous blue bus as he travels to Washington, D.C. and to our Southern border for a first-hand look at issues that are generally presented in sound-bites by the evening news. Much of the film’s attention is given to the Minuteman Civil Defense Corp (MCDC), providing an inside look at the nature of its operations and its participants. For his documentary, Burgard offers to provide expense-paid transportation to MDCD Founder Chris Simcox in order to gather coverage of Simcox’s activities.
Complementary interviews with migrant workers, illegal immigrants, the ACLU, a hospital spokesperson and infectious disease expert, Washington politicians and residents of the border region all help round out the viewpoints. Yet, Burgard’s most powerful footage is collected in the border crossing regions where litter, deceased victims of brigands and the elements, armed Mexican military incursions, ‘rape trees’ and other horrors are commonplace. Burgard travels well outside the ‘safe zone’ and risks his life to get close to the most threatening of invaders, the armed drug smugglers.
At film’s end, applause was vigorous, and viewers spoke of feeling “like an American again”. Devoid of mind-dazzling computer effects and manipulative post-production techniques, this film is a genuine documentary. So powerful is its honesty that, as related by Burgard, one theater owner ran it simultaneously with “Harry Potter” yet “Border” drew more audience. As its website boasts, the film has already won first-place documentary awards in film festivals.
I found the film’s pacing to be about right for long attention spans, occasionally breaking the grim reality with humorous moments. I reiterate, this film does not make use of popping special effects to dazzle, focusing instead on the story in front of the camera lens.
In the after-screening Q&A, director Burgard expressed hope that the November release will bring this film to every American home and school and will open America’s eyes to the real story at our southern border.
Director: Chris Burgard
Genre: Documentary
Screened: Wednesday August 15
Lobero Theater, Santa Barbara
DVD Release: November 2007
Website: http://www.bordermovie.com
WARNING: Mild profanity, gruesome images
