''The Undocumented'' is a 90-minute

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in te ...

, released in 2013, directed by

Marco Williams Marco Williams is a documentary filmmaker and professor of film production at Northwestern University. His films have received several awards, including the Gotham Documentary Achievement Award for Two Towns of Jasper'' and he has been nominated ...

, which investigates the causes and effects of migrant deaths along the Arizona-Mexico border.

Synopsis

''The Undocumented'' tells the stories of migrants who have died in the

Arizona desert The Sonoran Desert ( es, Desierto de Sonora) is a desert in North America and ecoregion that covers the northwestern Mexican states of Sonora, Baja California, and Baja California Sur, as well as part of the southwestern United States (in Arizona ...

and follows them on their long journey home. The film is woven from multiple narrative threads. In

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

, it depicts the efforts of the Pima County, Arizona Medical Examiner and the

Mexican Consulate This is a list of diplomatic missions of Mexico, excluding honorary consulates. Mexico's foreign service started in 1822, the year after the signing of the Treaty of Cordoba which marked the beginning of Mexico's independence. In 1831, legislati ...

Tucson, Arizona , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...

to name unidentified deceased border crossers, with the ultimate goal of returning them to their families. It also follows U.S.

Border Patrol, Search, Trauma and Rescue The Border Patrol Search, Trauma, and Rescue Unit (BORSTAR) is a specialized unit of the United States Border Patrol trained in emergency search and rescue and medical response. It primarily assists injured or stranded migrants who enter the Unit ...

(BOSTAR) agents, who must balance

law enforcement Law enforcement is the activity of some members of government who act in an organized manner to enforce the law by discovering, deterring, rehabilitating, or punishing people who violate the rules Rule or ruling may refer to: Education ...

with lifesaving. In Mexico, the film documents the reunification of the dead with their families and chronicles stories of loved ones who disappeared while crossing the border, never to be heard from again.

Historical background

According to US Border Patrol statistics, 417 undocumented border crossers died trying to enter the United States in fiscal year 2009, representing the first increase in four years. The majority of migrant deaths occur in Arizona's

Sonoran desert The Sonoran Desert ( es, Desierto de Sonora) is a desert in North America and ecoregion that covers the northwestern Mexican states of Sonora, Baja California, and Baja California Sur, as well as part of the southwestern United States (in Ariz ...

, with 213 confirmed to have died in the Tucson sector alone in fiscal year 2009. Researchers have attributed the preponderance of migrant deaths in Arizona to a so-called "funnel effect"; they argue that the

militarization Militarization, or militarisation, is the process by which a society organizes itself for military conflict and violence. It is related to militarism, which is an ideology that reflects the level of militarization of a state. The process of milit ...

of the border has caused illegal immigrants to risk crossing through more remote sections of the Arizona desert, leading to a spike in Arizona's migrant deaths, which rose from 9 in 1990 to 201 in 2005.

Production status and broadcast

Principle filming of ''The Undocumented'' took place from June to December 2009. Post-production began in February 2010, with editor David Meneses and associate producer Thomas Peyton working alongside director Marco Williams. ''The Undocumented'' was produced with support from

ITVS ITVS (Independent Television Service) is a service in the United States which funds and presents documentaries on public television through distribution by PBS and American Public Television, new media projects on the Internet, and the weekly seri ...

, the

Ford Foundation The Ford Foundation is an American private foundation with the stated goal of advancing human welfare. Created in 1936 by Edsel Ford and his father Henry Ford, it was originally funded by a US$25,000 gift from Edsel Ford. By 1947, after the death ...

, and the Fledgling Fund. Produced for

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

, it aired in the USA on 6 April 2013.*

References

External links

*
theundocumented.com
Official website. {{DEFAULTSORT:Undocumented Mexico–United States border American documentary television films History of Arizona Documentary films about illegal immigration to the United States Documentary films about Mexico