Linux Vision

May 2 - Walking the Line (2005)
Offers a harrowing view of the chaos, absurdity, and senseless deaths along the U.S.-Mexico border through private citizens who are taking the law into their own hands. Southern Arizona, a region celebrated for its history of lawlessness, has become the most highly trafficked area for immigrants in the world—and one of the most dangerous. A shift in border policy forces migrants to cross the unforgiving desert where thousands die; those who make it face volatile civilian militias.

The film explores the front lines of what many fatigue-wearing, self-styled warriors dub a “border war.” A commander marshals his armed troops, cocks his rifle, and maps out maneuvers when suspected immigrants invade the property. A nighttime raid led by a cigar-chomping vigilante leads to the capture of startled migrant workers. Walking the Line offers an intimate look into what drives these individuals to such extremes.

Standing in opposition to the vigilantes, humanitarians organize to prevent migrant deaths. Confronting the growing crisis, they too find themselves on the wrong side of the law. A Tucson pastor is indicted on federal felony charges for aiding and abetting while an American Indian faces banishment from his reservation for constructing water stations. At once disturbing, offbeat, and revealing, the film offers a scathing critique of a policy—and people—gone mad. Following rancher vigilantes with semiautomatic weapons, outlaw pastors with four-wheel drives, and impoverished immigrants with dreams of a better life, Walking the Line explores the uncertain line between what is patriotic, what is moral, and what is just.

Directors: Jeremy Levine and Landon Van Soest
Run time: 57 minutes
Web site: Walking the Line

EYES WIDE OPEN FILM SERIES - SPRING PROGRAM 2007

Presented by US Citizens for Peace and Justice, Rome
Alternate Wednesday Evenings at 19:00

• 7 February - Why We Fight
• 21 Februar - Who Killed the Electric Car
• 7 March - The Ultra-Left: What They really Think
• 21 March - Terrorstorm
• 4 April - The Iron Wall
• 18 April - Big Easy to Big Empty - the Untold Story of the Drowning of New Orleans
• 2 May - Walking the Line: Vigilantes at the Border
• 16 May - Independent Intervention
• 30 May - The US vs John Lennon