Getting Up To The Border

(screen shot from the trailer)

I usually have a reverse-magnet type of reaction to any kind of celebrity talking about anything other than their house/spouse or other stuff that just shoots through the 'ignore filter'. I managed a little patience when Gabriel García Bernal showed up talking about migrants in Mexico.

Maybe I'm still enamoured with his sliding cameo as Ronaldo in that World Cup commercial and I tend to like the movies he is in, but in all fairness, aside from facilitating decent quality interviews, he stays pretty out of the picture, and 'The Inivisibles' touches on some worthwhile themes. Most notably the human impact of trying to reach the States.

Really what I think what kept me interested was GGB's quote early in the trailer I watched the other day about a topic conveniently forgotten in the majority of Mexican outrage against US immigration policies: "Its essential that Mexico sets a good example of how to treat immigrants to be consistent with the valid demands that we make of the United States."

Though mild improvements have been made in recent years, Mex is meant to have among the toughest official immigration laws. It is also incredibly dangerous for migrants. Not only does the government do very little to help the migrants, gov. employees from various apparati are often implicated in wrong doing (Immigration authorities were accused in organizing the massacre of 72 migrants last month, and police are often accused of at least turning a blind eye to all abuse against the migrants).

The vids are with Amnesty International so have that angle to them. But their look at some personal stories along the dangerous, arduous and often fruitless journey towards the US goal makes them well worth the watching.

See the various short docs here.

(its not letting me embed for some reason)