Synopsis
When Carlos Guerrero, an accomplished New York City chef, decided to return to Mexico to visit his ailing mother, he knew he was taking the ultimate risk as an undocumented immigrant. The film follows Carlos’ epic journey back home to New York when he and a young girl from El Salvador get stranded in the deserts of Southern Arizona.
Director's Statement
In 2004, I (Director, Joseph Mathew-Varghese) went to southern Arizona after hearing about the rising death toll of migrants in the desert. That one trip turned into a three-year odyssey to make the documentary, Crossing Arizona (Sundance 2006). During this time, I learned and experienced a lot, beginning with an up-close look at how U.S. border enforcement policies were driving migrants into the most treacherous parts of the desert. I also met many of the immigrants who were risking everything to make this journey and I learned what it must be like to actually cross the desert.
From that time, I secretly nurtured the idea of making a film about a migrant’s journey of survival, a “hero’s journey” but from actual testimonies and personal experiences. It would be a composite of the many stories into a single, linear narrative.
Back in New York, an undocumented friend of mine confessed to me that he had not seen his family for over fifteen years. This realization of the secret trauma that many undocumented immigrants and their families live through, inspired me to make my protagonist a New Yorker, taking the ultimate risk to go back home to visit his family. The film would be about his return journey where he would have to cross the border again to reunite with his wife and child in New York.