“I need to become Mexican again.”
That is what Carlos a recent deportee says in a new documentary web series that aims to examine the relationship between Tijuana and San Diego titled “Facing North.”
In his two minute clip, Carlos shares that his daughters continue living in the United States but he will most likely remain in Tijuana because at least they can visit him as much as they can.
The idea of his daughters crossing the border anytime they wish is not an unrealistic one, especially in San Diego County, which is home to the busiest land border crossing in the Western Hemisphere.
“Facing North” is a documentary that looks at that relationship but does not answer a question, in fact, it is more of an introduction to that complicated relationship, according to Director Andrew Bracken.
The series is made up of 14 short videos of interviews with academics, migrants, border patrol agents, historians, and activists from both side of the border. Each video demonstrates different voices and perspectives on the complicated relationship between the border cities.
“The envision was just these really short videos it wasn’t like a feature film it was these short experiences,” Bracken said. “It was to challenge your and my preconceptions.”
As a documentarian and mediamaker, Bracken, was drawn to exploring the border and how San Diego interacts with it because of his own interest of why although he lived in San Diego for 13 years, Mexico felt so far away.
He said this project is like the opening paragraph t–o an introduction of what is a really rich relationship between the U.S. and Mexico, which he has a lot of questions about.
“It can be driven into ideological arguments,” Bracken said. “And I really just wanted to listen to people’s stories and it’s more about asking questions than declarative statements with this project.”
Bracken said it is not a comprehensive piece but really it is about hearing people’s stories, different views, and maybe even spark some curiosity in the viewers about the border relationship.
The documentary won the Binational Award in the 2017 San Diego Film Awards and is available online via http://www.pbs.org.
