LEARN MORE:
http://www.sundancechannel.com/film/?ixFilmID=7441&rname=DOCday

Please do thank The Sundance Channel for programming this timely film in timely fashion: feedback@sundancechannel.com.

Critically acclaimed US/Mexico Border Documentary, CROSSING ARIZONA, Premieres theatrically in San Francisco April 14th!

With Americans on all sides of the issue up in arms, and Congress embroiled in a knock-down-drag-out policy battle over how to move forward, CROSSING ARIZONA tells the story of how we got where we are today. The film shook audiences at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival and now it will have it’s US theatrical premiere at the Roxie Film Center in San Francisco on April 21st. We have a one-week commitment from the Roxie, and every day between now and then we are doing everything in our power to get the film held over week after week after week by popular demand. If we can accomplish our goal, this film has an excellent chance of screening throughout the country.

Please help us get the word out! Pass the message along to your friends and family, share it with groups or organizations you may be affiliated with, print out this PDF file to post on community bulletin boards and if you know of any groups we should be in contact with please let me know. We’re very excited to have the fate of our film in the hands of Bay Area progressives. People of conscious all over California, and all over the United States, are speaking out about the high economic, human, and moral costs we’re facing by looking the other way. Please take part in this box-office activism and help Crossing Arizona make it to a theatre near everyone!!!

http://www.roxie.com/Apr06.cfm

Want to know the status of the immigration debate in these United States of America? Pay attention because April is jam-packed with important events that will elevate the stakes. For one thing, the Minuteman Project will be back in action on Arizona’s southern border. Let’s hope the mainstream U.S. media’s love affair with this campaign to seal the southern border does not obscure or replace reporting on more significant affairs. About 50 miles North of the border — in Tucson, AZ — Daniel Strauss and Shanti Sellz await trial for providing humanitarian assistance to undocumented migrants. The pair face charges that they “knowingly and intentionally conspired to transport an illegal entrant while volunteering for the local faith-based No More Deaths movement.” A highly regarded and former Arizona Supreme Court justice Stanley G. Feldman, has recently joined the legal defense team. The outcome of this trial has far reaching implications for anyone committed to serving migrant communities, including the Catholic Church. Meanwhile, in Washington, the Senate is busy conjuring immigration bills as I write. The problem is, and what the majority of our lawmakers fail to understand is that only comprehensive legislation will improve the inadequacy of a half-baked immigration policy that has taken an enforcement-only approach over the past few decades. Tucson resident, Rev. John Fife warns that, “it’s a definition of insanity! The definition of insanity is doing more and more of the same thing and expecting a better result right? [But] that’s exactly what they’re doing.”

As humans, we have the capacity to act!

Please do contact your local representatives to let them know how you feel. Here is one link that will help you to take action:
http://capwiz.com/justiceforimmigrants/issues/alert/?alertid=8523406&type=TA

When Crossing Arizona was asked to compete at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival, we were floored! Certainly it was the distinction that put our film on the map. And becuase our film documents a conflict on the U.S./Mexico border, it was an honor to be asked to project our film in Mexico City’s FICCO film festival. But playing to an audience in San Diego, California — where the U.S. government initiated Operation Gate Keeper back in 1993 — was absolutely awe inspiring. Our gracious festival hosts (TY!: Ethan, Adriana, Sandra & Joaquin) had us programmed for Wednesday at 8PM in a 150-seat theater. Luckily, there was a larger theater available and 300+ tickets later, San Diego packed the house In this filmmaker’s opinion, the audience was the star of the show! I could not leave the back of the theater, because I was so tapped into the energy in the room. The audience was a healthy mix of students, activists, NPR listeners many of whom undoubtedly have roots south of the U.S. border. To see that many parents had brought their children, is probably what touched me most. WOW! There were certain points when the audience’s laughter rolled into full applause.
Enrique Morones of BorderAngels.org helped with a lively Q&A session following the screening.
for an article about the event visit:
http://www.laprensa-sandiego.org/current/arizona.htm
for a KPBS, San Diego radio interview:
http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/kpbs/news.newsmain?action=article&ARTICLE_ID=890459

Last week, Crossing Arizona played in Mexico City’s FICCO film festival. (www.ficco.com.mx) The staff treated us with kindness and the city itself, bustling with activity, inspired humility and creation. I was the guest of Ma. Esther Dauber, Director of a reputable spanish-language immersion program. (www.institutodauber.com.mx) I highly recommend contacting her for comfortable digs at a bargain price and/or spanish lessons.

Mexico city was an amazing place to visit; if my family and friends were all there, I may have never wanted to leave. And the experience of participating in an international film is reason enough to make another film. Perhaps it was especially meaningful with this film because Crossing Arizona allows viewers to appreciate how U.S. immigration, border enforcement, & trade strategies have combined to create a full blown human rights crisis along the Arizona/Mexico. And the point was not lost on audiences in Mexico City. Most folks who came to 1 of our 5 showings were thankful to see a U.S. film questioning a U.S. policy that has resulted in the death of over 3,000 migrants since the mid 1990’s. Audiences were also pleased that the film offered a peak into the current status of the immigration debate in and beyond Washington DC.

At the end of one of our screenings, a woman approached Mike Wilson. Crying, she thanked him for putting out water because many of her family members had crossed the desert looking for work in the U.S. And by our final screening we had several high-school students who attended at the suggestion of their teachers. Needless to say, we were in awe!

Over the week I had the chance to talk to lots of folks about their stance on the immigration issue. Of course, Mexicans understand that their economy has grown dependent on the money its citizens remit from the U.S. And I guess it’s no surprise to learn that some Mexicans have anxieties about losing their jobs to workers from South & Central America. “But it’s different here,” somebody explained, drawing a distinction between a U.S. culture that has always welcomed immigrants and a Mexican culture which has been beating back the Spanish since forever. I listened carefully, the whole time feeling a bit unsettled. I probably nodded off that night contemplating how easy it is for people to accept the free movement of goods and capital in an increasingly interconnected world and not the free movement of human beings.
dd

Dan DeVivo, Mike Wilson, Ray Ybarra and myself will be attending FICCO, Festival Internacional de Cine Contemporáneo de la Ciudad de México, later this month. We have screenings in Mexico City on February Friday Feb. 24th at 10:15pm, Sunday Feb. 26th at 3:15pm and Monday Feb. 27th at 7:00pm. Our new friends from Sundance who made DeNADIE are organizing a panel discussion on border and migration issues on Monday the 27th and also a party. More details coming soon! Laurie

So glad to hear from those few people who have left their comments. If you want tickets my best advice is that you begin standing in line outside by 2PM. our screening is friday 3:15 at the holiday village here in park city. If you are reading this, please find me (dan devivo) before the screening as I may have some set aside for loyal readers thanks again and I will try my best to respond each question asap.

BTW, we have been told that there will be a candlelight vigil directly following the screening in the holiday parking lot. Local groups have organized this to pay respect to those who have died crossing. all are invited to participate.

The Premiere was a blast. The Q&A afterwards focused soley on the issues. And it was great to have three characters from the film there to shape the debate. Some Minutemen even showed up and we made sure they were able to get tickets to see the film. After the screening, a Minuteman wrote me: “It is, in fact, an utter disappointment that any honorable U.S. citizen would make such a film.”

He was concerned that the film was off-balance. Simcox himself said that he thought he was portrayed fairly and that the filmmakers allowed him to say everything he wanted to say. May I point out that, during the film, the audience meets multiple characters who have different takes on the situation: landowning ranchers who deal with the consequences of migrants crossing over their land, immigrant rights’ activists who feel that immigrants are being blamed for problems for which they are not responsible, undocumented (but tax-paying) migrant farmworkers, “samaritans,” “vigilantes,” migrants attempting to cross.

Hello readers thanks so much for your attention on this my first blog ever! My name is Dan DeVivo and I am the Producer of Crossing AZ. It’s been 2 years since we began shooting the doc and now we have the honor of premiering at Sundance. Amazing experience so far. We screen tonight: 6:15 at the Holiday Village in Park City. For those who can’t make it inside there may be enough to keep you entertained on the outside in the parking lot. About an hour ago we got word that the Park City Police department is expecting a contigent of people from Salt Lake City to be outside protesting the film, the issue of immigraton and U.S. border policy in general. We don’t know for sure which side of the issue they are on but they plan to grab media attention for sure. It should be exciting and I sure will keep you posted on the details. Chris Simcox of the MinuteMan Project, Ray Ybarra of the ACLU, and Mike Wilson of The Tohono Odham Nation (all characters in our film) will also be on hand tonight as a special treat for anybody who wants to know more about the issues addressed in the film! Please join us and the debate!
best, dan