Rava Films is proud to partner once again with Art21 to explore the motivations and aspirations of several artists working along the U.S.-Mexico border. At a time when immigrants and Indigenous peoples are constantly dehumanized across the country, Tanya Aguiñiga, Richard Misrach, Postcommodity, and Rafael Lozano-Hemmer work to accentuate humanity’s resilience along the border through a multitude of mediums. By interweaving these characters, their art, and their stories, BORDERLANDS / LA FRONTERA explores the border as a place, an idea, and a barrier with real human and political implications.
TRAILER
FULL EPISODE
Tanya Aguiñiga grew up traveling from Tijuana to San Diego every day to attend school. The film follows Tanay as she constructs a performance piece that embodies the traumas of her upbringing.
Internationally-recognized photographer Richard Misrach focuses his attention to the border, and what is left behind by migrants seeking to cross over. Through his work, Richard illuminates a stark contrast between the staggering beauty of the desert and the harsh reality of the journey.
Indigenous artist duo Postcommodity are in the midst of erecting a series of concrete columns atop the Chicago Art Institute. These columns reference a Latin American architectural feature commonly seen in poor or working class constructions. The artists are encouraging the U.S. to embrace black and brown thought in the country.
Meanwhile, Mexican-Canadian artist Rafael Lozano-Hemmer orchestrates an ambitious interactive installation that uses light and sound to connect the bisected communities of El Paso and Ciudad Juárez. Though the wall tears the sister cities apart, Rafael hopes to heal, rebuild, and highlight the connections between both communities through his work.
At the borderlands, immigrants are turned away, the natural environment is decimated in order to create a physical barrier, and lack of empathy governs the region. However, Tanya, Richard, Postcommodity, and Rafael work to accentuate the resilience of people in the face of cruelty. By weaving these characters, their art, and their stories together, BORDERLANDS / LA FRONTERA explores the border as a place, an idea, and a barrier with real human and political implications.
Credits
Executive Producer: Tina Kukielski. Series Producer: Nick Ravich. Directors: Rafael Salazar Moreno and Ava Wiland. Producer: Ava Wiland. Editors: Rafael Salazar Moreno and Russell Yaffe. Director of Photography: Rafael Salazar Moreno.
Production Services: RAVA Films. Assistant Curator: Danielle Brock. Associate Producer: Julia Main. Post-Production Coordinator: Alexandra Lenore Ashworth. Design & Animation: Momentist, Inc. Composer: Joel Pickard. Additional Music: Amalia Mondragón. Advising Producer: Ian Forster. Additional Art21 Staff: Lauren Barnett, Lolita Fierro, Joe Fusaro, Meghan Garven, Jonathan Munar, and Emma Nordin.
Director Statement
Photo by Richard Misrach
As directors, we have had the enormous pleasure of following and capturing the stories, work, and creative and political processes of some of the most groundbreaking artists of our time. Throughout filming, we've borne witness to artists' unique ability to shed light on pressing systemic issues – many of which society has come to understand as crucial, debilitating, and unjust only years later.
Our latest collaboration with ART21, an episode for the Peabody Award-winning Art in the Twenty-First Century television series: BORDERLANDS, follows four artists as they create works that deal with issues of migration, displacement, and colonialism. On the frontier separating Mexico and the United States, artists are challenging society to refocus its mindset, and inspiring new perspectives on the symbol of the border wall. As directors, it was our intent to shed new light on the Borderlands as a place that indeed divides and rips communities apart, but is also a source of creativity and experimentation. Art itself cannot solve the ills of society, as one of our artists affirms. But, like film, art helps us generate empathy and shows us how to be "human on a global scale."
We believe the language of film, like the works of the four visual artists we follow in BORDERLANDS, can contribute to a deeper understanding of place as a source of personal identity, belonging, and conflict. We hope this documentary will inspire self-reflection and encourage dialogue on this important issue.
Thank you,
Rafa Salazar & Ava Wiland
Directors, BORDERLANDS