please note this film has been added since the Flicksheet went to press
Long-time radical filmmaker Akerman turns her lens on the U.S.-Mexican border. In years past, illegal immigrants could make their way through cities like San Diego, but advances in surveillance technology—from military spending sprees in the Gulf War—have pushed routes into the dangerous mountain terrain. The INS made accurate calculations: more people attempt the difficult passage, and many of them die trying. Cutting between long takes of desert plains and interviews, the film "... shows the hypocrisy and paranoia involved in U.S. immigration policy and its failure to acknowledge the economic dependence of the U.S. on undocumented laborers." (Amy Taubin, Film Comment)
2002>color>1 hr 39 mins>France/Belgium/Australia/Finland