2009 NR 55 minutes
Contemporary immigration issues between the United States and Mexico receive careful study in this documentary, which uses extensive interviews to outline the experiences and perspectives of ordinary citizens in the Mexican countryside. In examining the economic factors prompting Mexicans to seek work in the United States and the social pressures that result, the film presents an affecting look at a complex political and moral issue.
Director: Roy Germano
This film is a must see for anyone who really wants to understand the causes of Mexican immigration to the U.S. “The Other Side of Immigration” particularly looks at small villages in the central Mexican state of Michoacan. Director Roy Germano’s thesis is that immigration to the U.S. is an essentially rural phenomenon. He interviews past migrants to the U.S., family members of current migrants, city officials and state officials. Since the 1994 passage of NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Agreement, it is no longer economically feasible for farmers in this rural area to continue to grow grains, such as corn and wheat, as these are more cheaply imported from other countries. It also is no longer viable to raise hogs, another formerly-important commodity. Farmers and campesinos (farmworkers) can no longer earn enough money to support a family. Large parts of this state are essentially depopulated, as so many have, of necessity, fled to the north.
The sole beneficiary in Michoacan of this process is agri-business, as, for example, avocados are grown and exported, predominantly to the U.S.
I would recommend watching this film for upper-level students in speaking and listening classes and for ethnic studies courses.
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