The Other Side documents the physical landscape of the borderlands, and the human landscape of cross-border migration. As increasingly militant US immigration policies have sealed the traditional avenues of migration from Mexico, undocumented migrants have resorted to crossing the remote deserts of the Southwest. Every summer, scores of people die while attempting this transit. In response, activist groups from Tucson to San Diego have established a network of water stations; man-made oases of plastic water bottles scattered throughout the border zone. This film, in part, documents those efforts. Shown with one of Brown's early short experimental documentaries.
Brown is a filmmaker from Lubbock, Texas. He has made several short experimental documentaries about the dusty corners of the North American landscape. Along with filmmaker Tom Comerford, Brown created the Lo Fi Landscapes tour, traveling across country in 2002 and 2005 with a program of short films concerned with history and place. The Museum of Modern Art hosted a retrospective of Brown's work in 2003 as part of its MediaScope series. Currently, Brown teaches at the College for Creative Studies in Detroit.
color, total running time 75 minutes, USA