By Maria Cecilia Aguilar
Stories of the U.S.- Mexico border — like myths of the old west — are generally rolled into one sensational showdown of good versus evil: The drug smuggler versus the FBI agent; the undocumented immigrant versus the border patrol; the politician versus the people; and the tourist versus the street vendor. More than 150 years after the U.S.-Mexico border was created, impressions of the region retain a kind of wildness, as age-old traditions merge and clash with hotly contested laws and propositions. Yet, in spite of the border’s hold on the American imagination, there is no such thing as a typical border story. "The Border," a two-hour documentary that premieres nationally on PBS September 23 and 24 at 10 p.m. EST (check local listings), challenges the notion and offers a different picture of this "wild" frontier of national consciousness.
"We’re trying to set up a new model, a new paradigm for how we look at this region," says acclaimed filmmaker Paul Espinosa, who led the collaboration between five production entities: KPBS, Espinosa Productions, KUAT, KNME and Galan Productions.
While the border is a region all its own, the stories of border life in San Diego and Tijuana differ from the stories of border towns in California, Texas, New Mexico Arizona, Chihuahua and Baja California. Any one of the stations could have produced "The Border" alone, but the region is so diverse, sending producers and crew into communities where they have no ties would have been a daunting task. Launching a collaborative effort allowed the filmmakers to explore familiar territory and unearth stories that have special significance to their part of the region and capture nuances that only locals would know.
"Each of us, in our own place along the border, bring to the project experiences and a history that is as diverse as the 2,000-mile border itself," says Hector Galan, producer for "The Border."
Together with producers Hector Gonzalez, Matthew Sneddon and Galan, Espinosa presents slices of border life not found on the evening news. Rather than exploit the aura of danger and menace cultivated by other media, the show focuses on the stories of every day life, faith, tradition, opportunity and art that are flourishing in the many border towns of the United States and Mexico.
When Galan, Sneddon, Gonzalez and Espinosa first met to discuss "The Border" in January 1998, they each had more than a decade of experience producing award-winning programs on border history and culture. Understanding that "The Border" would be the first program of its kind for viewers nationwide, it was imperative not only that they present diverse accounts of life in the border region, but that they also tell good stories.
Indeed "The Border" takes viewers into unfamiliar territory — geographically, historically and even spiritually — to enhance their understanding of the region. Yet "The Border" is ultimately more than a study in contrasts. It offers viewers a glimpse of a region undergoing tremendous change. Each segment presents the opportunity to rethink the American dream from multiple points of view. The U.S.-Mexico border is not just an "issue," but a way of life.