Walk the Line, documentary aims to raise immigration awareness

Wayne Ewing's reportage has taken him to both ends of the U.S.-Mexico border. He's followed protesters and politicians, filmed border
patrol agents and undocumented immigrants.

The product of his work is a feature length documentary on the border fence, a thorough examination of the Bush Administration's most visible, and controversial, border security initiative.

On Thursday, "The Border Wall" will be shown in Brownsville, where Ewing filmed much of the documentary, taking pains to report the legal battle between landowners and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. That battle is still ongoing in the Rio Grande Valley, where the fence remains largely unbuilt.

"There's a lack of understanding of this issue outside of the border region," said Ewing, whose work includes a series of documentaries on Hunter S. Thompson. "We tried to make a film that takes them there...to the core of the issue."

In his attempt to bring viewers to the frontlines, Ewing filmed immigrants going around the border fence in California. He interviewed Eloisa Tamez about the El Calaboz property her family has owned since the 18th century, which is now embroiled in a land condemnation lawsuit.

But the film is more than an on-the-ground glimpse of the fence's realized or potential impact on immigrants and border communities. It's also a window into the policies that have made the barrier a reality. Without Congress' willingness to reallocate $400 million dollars after the project ran out of money, the fence would have remained incomplete - a point "The Border Wall" makes clear.

When the film premiered at the Starz Film Festival last month, the audience was up in arms, Ewing said. "They were asking what they could do to stop this."

In January, Barack Obama's administration could theoretically put the brakes on the fence's construction. But for that to happen, Ewing said, there needs to be more public consciousness of the issue. It's precisely the role he sees for the documentary.

WHERE TO WATCH THE DOCUMENTARY:

"The Border Wall" will be shown at 6 p.m. on Thursday at Galeria 409, 409 E. 13th St., and at 6 p.m. on Friday at the South Texas College Auditorium in Weslaco.

ksieff@brownsvilleherald.com