Browse Films

Fed up with the mass migration of their community, the small Mexican town of Alberto creates a one-of-a-kind tourist attraction they call La Caminata, a simulated nighttime border crossing, complete with fake border patrol chasing balaclava-clad coyotes. The experience is a cross between adventure tourism and a way for participants, largely middle class Mexican tourists, to experience firsthand the hardships of the border crossing. La Caminata details the story of this unlikely attempt to save a small community, offering a powerful look at the effect of migration in home communities, and opening a view to the immigration debate on the other side.

"In its short time frame La Caminata sensitively opens our eyes to an as-yet-unexplored side of Mexican migration to the United States: the people left behind."
Karen Cirillo, Programmer, True/False Film Festival and Doxita
Karen Cirillo, Programmer, True/False Film Festival and Doxita

Jamie Meltzer's LA CAMINATA highlights the complexity of immigration in riveting and unexpected ways... We are privileged to see and hear how those who are left behind in a tiny town in Mexico make sense of the difficult and frequently deadly journey across the border.
Deborah L. Jaramillo, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Film and Television, Boston University

full review

AWARDS & SCREENINGS:

• SILVERDOCS Documentary Festival

• Next Wave Festival AT BAM

• True/False Film Festival

• Message to Man International Film Festival

• Reflections and New Directions: A Conference on the Anthropology of Tourism, CSU Chico, March 2011