Brett Tolley ’04 won the Best Student Film Award at the Plymouth Independent Film Festival July 21-July 24. His documentary, titled “Dying to Get In: Undocumented Immigration at the U.S./Mexican Border,” highlights the harsh reality of border crossing.
Brett completed his video as part of independent research he conducted during his senior year. The video was produced in conjunction with Elon’s Program for Ethnographic Research and Community Studies (PERCS) and ElonDocs.
To read the full description of his documentary, see below.
To see more about the Plymouth Independent Film Festival: http://www.plyfilmfest.org/
“Dying to Get In: Undocumented Immigration at the U.S./Mexican Border” offers a firsthand look at the harsh reality of today’s border crossing. Beginning in the small Mexican border town of Altar, Sonora, where as many as 3,000 migrants pass every day, the film follows the journey of men, women, and children into the Southern Arizona desert. There they encounter “coyotes” or human smugglers, desert thieves, vigilantes, and the Border Patrol-all of whom pose serious hurdles for these migrants who are hoping to trade a life of desperation and poverty for one of hope and opportunity.
One of the greatest challenges these migrants face, however, isn’t human but environmental: temperatures in the Southern Arizona desert can soar to 120 degrees during the day and plummet to freezing temperatures during the night. Water is scarce and even then, often polluted with mud and manure. The result is a border crossing that has functionally become a gauntlet of death.
The film follows Ramon, a 50-year-old father of two, who is trying to find a way to make the money he needs to put his son through school. Francisca, a 32-year-old mother, explains how her faith in God will guide her husband and 5-year-old child across the desert. A father, guiding his 5 children, all under age 13, explains how choosing the right coyote can be the difference between life and death. The men, women, and children tell a story of border crossing and determination that applies to all of us. It is a story of the American dream.