Trump’s wall won’t stop the 212,000 weapons America sells to Mexico every year or the 20+ billion dollars worth of narcotics imported and consumed in the U.S. annually from Mexico. It’s not known secret American Corporations have been exploiting cheap labor to make their goods in Mexico often at the cost of the workers health and lives. When workers are not paid a living wage they resort to crime and other means to survive. The question we as a global community need to be asking is when does survival become transgression?
“A lot of women they steal…a lot of women. I think the government knows but they won’t tell nothing. If somebody tries to investigate a little bit more…I think they’ll die. People die because they talk too much…I think the walls could listen in to what I’m saying to you right now…” – boy in Juarez, MX
La Sequía is a film that takes an unflinching look at life in a border town through the eyes of a fifteen-year-old boy who’s two options are to work for slave labor wages at the local maquiladora factory or for the cartel, which pays a living wage. He chooses the later against his family’s wishes and it isn’t until a girl he meets and develops a crush on gets disappeared, that he begins to question his own path and the choices he’s made.
This film is based on true stories coming from hours of collected interviews and observation of life in the borders of Juarez, Mexico. Even after 20 years and 4000 missing women, girls continue to disappear from Juarez. The issue is both systemic and ongoing. In order for this femicide to stop it must first be acknowledged, discussed in the larger landscape of contemporary society, and be recognized for the larger repercussions it carries in the global consciousness.
Entirely authentic and reimagined via a narrative landscape, this contemporary film is both timely and urgent. Shooting on location in Los Angeles and Juarez MX, this project goes into production in the spring of 2017.
If you’d like more information on this project or to schedule an interview please email the team at lasequiafilm@gmail.com.
Contact Information:
Jianna Maarten
Email: jmaarten@afi.edu
Website: www.kickstarter.com