
Border Witness
Reimagining the US-Mexico Borderlands through Film
Michael Dear(Author)
University of California Press
1st Edition
Published on 21. February 2023
Book
Paperback/Softback
318 pages
978-0-520-39194-9 (ISBN)
Description
What a century of border films teaches about the real and imagined worlds of the US-Mexico borderlands-and how this understanding helps build better relations across boundaries.
Border Witness is an account of cultural collision and fusion between Mexico and the United States, as seen on the ground and in films from the past hundred years. Blending film studies with political and cultural geography, Michael Dear investigates the making of cross-border identity and community in the territories between two nations.
Border Witness introduces a new "border film" genre just now entering its golden age. A geographer and activist, Dear adopts an accessible and engaged perspective, combining the stories told by these films with insights drawn from his own decades-long research and travel. From early silent films to virtual reality, and from revolution to the present global crisis, border films provide fresh evidence for real and imagined politics and for envisioning future transborder architectures carved from in-between spaces. In an era of global geopolitics that favors walls and war over diplomacy, Dear's insights have relevance for borders around the world.
Border Witness is an account of cultural collision and fusion between Mexico and the United States, as seen on the ground and in films from the past hundred years. Blending film studies with political and cultural geography, Michael Dear investigates the making of cross-border identity and community in the territories between two nations.
Border Witness introduces a new "border film" genre just now entering its golden age. A geographer and activist, Dear adopts an accessible and engaged perspective, combining the stories told by these films with insights drawn from his own decades-long research and travel. From early silent films to virtual reality, and from revolution to the present global crisis, border films provide fresh evidence for real and imagined politics and for envisioning future transborder architectures carved from in-between spaces. In an era of global geopolitics that favors walls and war over diplomacy, Dear's insights have relevance for borders around the world.
Reviews / Votes
"Dear's book is a magnificent chronicle of borderlands films over a century that should be a "must-read" for border scholars and perhaps used not only in film classes but also in border studies courses to supplement the often-dry readings assigned in our twenty-first century visual world." * Journal of Borderlands Studies * "A deep historical context along with solid cinematic summaries of a less discussed cinematic genre: the border film. . . . The author devotes a good deal of the book to the US's relationship with immigrants, the border patrol, and Mexican officials, providing readers with a firm understanding of the difficulties surrounding the failed policies and procedures currently taking place at the border." * CHOICE *More details
Edition
First Edition
Language
English
Place of publication
Berkerley
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
44 b-w photos, 1 b-w map
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 23 mm
Weight
454 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-520-39194-9 (9780520391949)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
02/2023
1st Edition
Naval Institute Press
€28.99
Available for download
Person
Michael Dear is author of Why Walls Won't Work and other works on border urbanism, Latinx culture in Los Angeles, and the urban humanities. He is a critic and curator, most recently of Califas: Art of the US-Mexico Borderlands.
Content
Introduction
?
Part 1 Origins
1. Border Witness: From the Pacific Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico ??
2. Bisected Bodies: Early Silent Films
3. Making Filmscapes ?
4. Using Film as Evidence
5. Revolution and Modernization
6. The Great Migrations
7. Border Film Noir
Part 2 Fusions
8. Borderlands before Borders
9. From Final Girl to Woman Warrior
10. Narco Nations: Men at War
11. Lives of the Undocumented
12. Moral Tales, Border Law
13. Border Walls: Screen Folly and Fantasy
14. The Mexican Dream/El Sueno Mexicano
Part 3 Witness
15. A Golden Age for Border Film
16. Ways of Seeing the Border (Beyond Film)
17. Border Witness of the Future
Acknowledgments
Appendix 1: Chronological Filmography
Appendix 2: Alphabetical Filmography
Appendix 3: Map of US-Mexico Borderlands
Notes
References
Index
?
Part 1 Origins
1. Border Witness: From the Pacific Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico ??
2. Bisected Bodies: Early Silent Films
3. Making Filmscapes ?
4. Using Film as Evidence
5. Revolution and Modernization
6. The Great Migrations
7. Border Film Noir
Part 2 Fusions
8. Borderlands before Borders
9. From Final Girl to Woman Warrior
10. Narco Nations: Men at War
11. Lives of the Undocumented
12. Moral Tales, Border Law
13. Border Walls: Screen Folly and Fantasy
14. The Mexican Dream/El Sueno Mexicano
Part 3 Witness
15. A Golden Age for Border Film
16. Ways of Seeing the Border (Beyond Film)
17. Border Witness of the Future
Acknowledgments
Appendix 1: Chronological Filmography
Appendix 2: Alphabetical Filmography
Appendix 3: Map of US-Mexico Borderlands
Notes
References
Index