Do you have questions about the recent buoy debacle on the Rio Grande? Our reporting has you covered, plus an important new hire at The Border Chronicle, and our new project Wall Watch.
As floodwaters swept hundreds of one-ton border buoys downstream, international bridges closed, commerce slowed, and officials struggled to get answers from DHS about a project advancing despite local opposition, environmental concerns, and treaty questions.
Hundreds of massive orange buoys staged for a controversial DHS floating barrier project broke free near Eagle Pass and are now drifting toward Laredo, threatening bridges, commerce, drinking water supplies and downstream communities.
See Sleep Dealer at the Fox Theater in Tucson on October 15 with a panel, featuring Alex Rivera, and an audience Q&A afterward.
Filmmaker Alex Rivera debuted Sleep Dealer, his groundbreaking border science fiction movie, at the Sundance Film Festival in 2008. The film won several awards but did not receive the wide commercial release it deserved. Over the years, Sleep Dealer has been rereleased on digital platforms and become a cult classic.
The Border Chronicle is proud to announce that on October 15, viewers will have the opportunity to see Sleep Dealer on the big screen at the Fox Theater in Tucson as part of the Cinematic Borderlands Film and Conversation Series, presented by the Fox Theater, Cinema Tucsón, Cinema Tropical, Borderlands Cinematic Arts, The Border Chronicle, and other community partners.
In this podcast, Melissa del Bosque speaks with Rivera about what inspired him to make Sleep Dealer and about collaborating with his life and creative partner, Cristina Ibarra. Both were awarded MacArthur Foundation grants, often referred to as “genius grants,” in 2021. The two filmmakers created the innovative half-documentary/half-scripted film The Infiltrators in 2019 and founded Borderlands Cinematic Arts, a filmmaking lab based in Los Angeles that is part of Arizona State University’s Sidney Poitier New American Film School, where Rivera is also an associate professor. The lab focuses on creating authentic and nuanced cinematic works about the borderlands.
Sleep Dealer touches on many social and political issues, including the border security industrial complex, migration, and social and economic inequality. Check it out on the big screen on October 15 at 7 p.m.. The screening will be followed by a panel featuring Alex Rivera, Melissa del Bosque, and David Taylor, moderated by Vicky Westover, along with an audience Q&A with the filmmaker.
Also, don’t miss Ibarra’s wonderful documentary Las Marthas, about Laredo’s Society of Martha Washington Colonial Pageant and Ball celebration, screening on October 8 at 7 p.m. as part of the Cinematic Borderlands Film and Conversation Series. Last, don’t miss Take It Away, a documentary about the legendary Tejano music host Johnny Canales, screening on October 22 at 7 p.m.
You can buy tickets and learn more about the films here.
Watch a short film on the making of Sleep Dealer here
In February, the country broke an ominous record: over 68,000 people were being held in detention by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, more than ever before.
A road trip through Baja California reveals how free trade, migration, and border policy have reshaped Tijuana's landscape, and why the uncertain future of the USMCA invites new questions about what comes next.
Border Chronicle founders, Todd and Melissa, talk about how law enforcement surveillance, high-speed chases instigated by Border Patrol, unwarranted searches and seizures, and other heavy-handed policing that border communities have endured for decades has now moved into the interior of the country.
A $2.6 billion border barrier through Texas' Lower Pecos Canyonlands has archaeologists warning that irreplaceable indigenous rock art and sacred sites could be destroyed.
Independent news, culture and context from the U.S.-Mexico border.
