Ovid.tv Presents BORDER SOUTH Film Review — Journey Along the Migrant Trail

“To those who had to leave and those who were lost along the way.”

Faint sounds of wind and nature, followed by a train on its tracks, sets the tone for this Undocumented Migrant Project documentary, filmed over a 5-year span. The film narrator begins ---

“The North American Migrant Trail spans over 2300 miles, from Southern Mexico to the US-Mexico border. Around 400,000 migrants a year take it, attempting to reach the United States. Tens of thousands go missing every year.”

The director frequently chooses close-ups for the camera shots, giving us a more emotional connection with the immigrants, as they share their experiences. We are shown footage of men jumping aboard a train, while others are saying their goodbyes. Both fear and joy fill the eyes of men leaving, while the men staying are left to only pray for the safety and success of their friends and family.

A 31-year-old survivor, Gustavo Alberto Lopez Quiroz from Nicaragua demonstrates how he, and other immigrants, slept on the train tracks. By resting his head on the tracks, Quiroz is able to feel the vibrations of nearing trains. Later, Quiroz, asleep on the train as he awaits the arrival of his final destination – the United States –, abruptly wakes up to pain in his chest. He’s been shot! The railway guards show no mercy to Quiroz nor his migrating company. Looking down, seeing blood, falling off the train hard onto the ground, Quiroz fights the urge to give up. His lack of identification and the thought of his family being the ones to find his limp body made him realize giving up was not an option.

“One goes with God, but God looks after your soul. But the body…God doesn’t protect that.”