Fabián Hofman

According to the International Institute for Strategic Studies, Mexico became one of the deadliest conflict zones in the world in 2017, second only to Syria. In 2008, the Mexican government sent the army to Chihuahua on the Mexico-Texas border to fight drug traffickers. What seemed like an attempt to control the cartels turned into state-sponsored disappearances and the murder of journalists, human rights activists and civilians. The survivors and those threatened by the conflict pushed at the unwelcoming border of the United States, hoping for asylum. With stunning visual poetry, director Marcela Arteaga weaves together a record of their memories told over the backdrop of the once-vibrant landscape of the Juarez Valley. She also highlights the extraordinary work of Carlos Spector, an immigration lawyer born in El Paso, Texas, who fights to obtain political asylum for those Mexicans fleeing violence.

A typical family is being watched in their own home. The father, an accomplice to the situation, obliges the other members of the family group to participate in the dynamic. The mother tries to escape with her daughters, but to no avail.

This is the story of Javier, a 15 year old Argentinean who left for Mexico carrying the drama of his missing brother, prematurely deprived of his parents, and bearing the weight of collective blame.

The attack on a popular singer known as Pachito -who becomes the favorite candidate to win the presidential election in an imaginary Latin American country- is the starting point of several stories, including: the alleged murderer, a police officer investigating the disappearance of the murdered body and an architect hired to design the mausoleum to the memory of the possible dictator.