A Special Report

Articles:

The Other Face of Immigration
by Tim Vanderpool

Soluton Minded
by Sarah Beaudry

The Border Film Project
by Sarah Beaudry

Divided Lives
by Margaret Regan

The University of Arizona Alumnus — Fall 2006

The Border Film Project
by Sarah Beaudry

Spontaneous creativity gives birth to some of the most fantastic ideas. When University of Arizona alumnus Rudy Adler ’03 and some friends, Brett Huneycutt and Victoria Criado, journeyed to the Arizona-Mexico border, they planned to make a traditional video documentary. Their goal was to document people on both sides of the border dispute: the migrants seeking to cross the international line illegally as well as the citizen Minutemen trying to stop them.

The trio came equipped with video cameras, but they were open to other avenues of creativity, and eventually, instead of a film, they created a photo documentary project, grassroots-style. Their Border Film Project is a new and original way of exploring the two opposing sides. Migrants and Minuteman alike got still cameras to chronicle their own experiences in film.

The friends didn’t come up with the plan immediately. Setting out to humanize the issues, they met migrants at crossing points and shelters, and talked with Minutemen living near the border. Though they witnessed heartbreaking dangers, “We decided from the very beginning that we would not take sides in this argument, no matter what our personal feelings,” says Adler.

“We met a lot of wonderful people and tried to inform many migrants about the dangers of crossing the desert, but they really didn’t listen.”

While visiting a migrant shelter in Altar, near the border in Sonora, Mexico, Criado grew attached to a single mother and her three children, and wanted to give the children a present. While searching for a gift, one of the friends spied the video camera they had brought along for documentation. It was then that they all came up with the same idea, more or less spontaneously, “Hmm, wouldn’t it be interesting if we gave this family some sort of recording device so they could capture this journey themselves?”

Ultimately, Adler and friends decided on a plan to give disposable cameras, instead of video cameras, to both the migrants and the Minutemen. They also provided self-addressed, stamped envelopes for mailing the cameras back. And they gave an incentive as well: Wal-Mart gift cards for the migrants and gas cards for the Minutemen, each with a $0 balance. Once the cameras were mailed back, the project members added a small donation of $25 to the cards, for the migrants and Minutemen to spend as they liked.

The group’s “aha” moment spawned a project that provided 600 cameras to the opposing sides and more than 2,000 photos taken and returned.

“The photos we got back far exceeded our expectations,” says Adler.

The collection of migrant photos tells the story of hundreds of people risking their lives in a perilous desert crossing with one primary objective in mind: to seek jobs in the United States and to improve their economic conditions. Some photos are disturbing, with images of, among other things, the blistered feet of migrants.

On the flip side are photos of Minutemen tracking and trailing border crossers. These U.S. citizens say they are working to protect U.S. borders and to gain lawmaker support for a border clampdown. Motivated by both security worries and economic concerns, they try to secure the border from thousands of people crossing illegally.

According to Adler, the Minutemen were not the stereotypical gunslingers that they had expected to meet. Standard operating procedures for Minutemen included watching the border peacefully from lawn chairs from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m., using binoculars and night vision goggles. If they spotted crossers, they’d notify the U.S. Border Patrol.

“This project taught us that the issues are more complex than we ever imagined,” says Adler. “We are sympathetic to all sides and hope a hybrid solution can be decided.”

The collection of photos will be exhibited at galleries nationwide this fall, and a book about the project will be published in March 2007. The Border Film Project includes a selection of photos, an explanation of the group’s process, and quotes from both sides, providing a balanced view of the issues surrounding illegal immigration.

“We wanted to do a project that was inclusive because this is a very contentious issue,” Adler notes. “People get angry very quickly and we didn’t want to alienate one side or the other.”