September 3, 1999
A new PBS-TV documentary shatters Americans' outdated perceptions of life along the U.S.-Mexico border, exploring the world's busiest border region from a contemporary perspective. Rather than focusing on drug smuggling, illegal immigration and other dramatic conflicts, "The Border" breaks new ground by examining the everyday cultural, economic and political issues faced by the 15 million people who call this region home.
Set to air Wednesday, September 8 from 9 to 11 p.m. on KPBS, "The Border" portrays this territory not as a chaotic international dividing line, but as an area where people, money and ideas ebb and flow freely in a spirit of cooperation —a place that takes on a culture of its very own. Hosted by John Quiñones of ABC's "20/20," the magazine-style show features six stories that personify this rapidly emerging cross-cultural exchange.
"We're trying to set up a new model, a new paradigm for how we look at this region," said Paul Espinosa, the documentary's executive producer. "This region is now undergoing tremendous transformation due largely to changes in the global economy, but it's still misperceived by most Americans. Culturally and economically, it's a window to our future."
Instead of pursuing traditional story lines of border tensions, "The Border" focuses on six character-driven vignettes that show there's more on the line than drugs and immigration: NAFTA and the changing global economy; the crisis of water in desert communities; the migration in and out of the border region; current litigation over who owns the land; the current condition of the region's indigenous people; and artists grappling with defining the border.
In Baja California, "The Border" examines how the production of the most expensive film of all time, "Titanic," transformed a small fishing village 30 miles south of San Diego into a mini-Tinseltown. After searching from California to the Czech Republic, Twentieth Century Fox studios built a multimillion-dollar state-of-the-art production facility in Popo-tla, outside of Rosarito, Mexico.
The lure of cheap labor, a moderate-year-round climate and the proximity by the U.S.-Mexico border has made Baja California an ideal sport for movie locations, but the long term impact on the region the local firm industry is uncertain. "The Border" questions whether Mexico's involvement will be limited to providing workers for the low-end jobs in production, or whether a more balanced partnership will form between Mexican and American filmmakers.
"It is a challenge for Mexico, not just to be an assembler of images—just as we are assemblers of televisions or refrigerators— but to go beyond that, like other countries have been able to do," says Norma Iglesias, professor at El Colegio de la Frontera Norte.
Mexico's aggressive pursuit of foreign investment in conjunction with international companies' never-ending quest for low-cost labor fuels industry growth at the border. The consequences of this growth are apparent in Juarez, Mexico and its sister city El Paso, Texas. Home to hundreds of assembly plants known as maquiladoras, thousands of Mexicans flock to Juarez each year straining the region's resources, especially water. In 15 to 25 years, the underground aquifer that supplies the area's water will be exhausted.
"The Border" introduces viewers to the Aguilar family, a Rancho Anapra family of five, faced with the challenging task of living in a home with no running water. The Juarez municipal water authority only delivers water to their neighborhood once a week. Husband and wife Enrique and Aracely Aguilar are consumed with the struggle to keep their family's water supply safe and clean.
"On two occasions I have seen children who had parasites in the stomach and that is because they don't boil the water or because the water barrels are dirty," says Aracely Aguilar.
This story analyzes the factors that have led to the growth of this particular border region: the Rio Grande, the maquiladora and the promise of a better life. "The Border" interviews the re-gion's residents to discover the realities of living in an area where the lack of water makes it barely possible to survive.
Life along the U.S.-Mexico border is as diverse as the region. The documentary's multiple-perspective approach gives viewers the freedom to draw their own conclusions on these complex, multi-layered issues which affect the entire nation.
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