From the Other Side

Director: Chantal Akerman

2002 / 99min / DCP

Still further proof of Akerman’s political prescience, From the Other Side identifies the US-Mexico border as a fault line poised to tear a rift in national political discourse, finding a microcosm of the macro story in the perilous desert crossing that divides Agua Prieta, Sonora, from Douglas, Arizona. A simple story told through arid landscapes and human faces that speak volumes. “In a few deft interviews [the film] shows the hypocrisy and paranoia involved in US immigration policy and its failure to acknowledge the economic dependence of the US on undocumented laborers.” —Amy Taubin