The border between the United States and Mexico has long been seen as a place of beauty, of mystery — and of danger.
Today, it’s been militarized and politicized. But, the borderlands weren’t always seen that way, according to Michael Dear.
Dear spent four years traveling along both sides of the border and decided to write his newest book about the region from a different lens: the lens of film.
Dear watched more than 250 movies about the border that span a century for his new book “Border Witness: Reimagining the U.S.-Mexico Borderlands through Film.” And he says he learned a lot about the region through the experience.
He talked with The Show about some of the border films he sees as most important and why he chose to focus on films after a career studying and writing about the border.
