what's a mosaic documentary?

Border Stories is re-imagining the documentary, one with no beginning, middle, or end. Its only linear aspect is the border itself. We produce short, focused video installments. Isolated from the whole, these pieces may seem disparate, but together they form new meanings that transcend their individual subject matter. In this way, we hope to show - but not get lost in - the complexities of the U.S.-Mexico border region. Each story is important, but there is larger meaning in the mosaic as a whole.

Our crew travels the length of the U.S.–Mexico border, from Brownsville, Texas to Tijuana, Mexico in search of stories that portray the human face of this politically and emotionally-charged region. Through this website, we invite a world-wide audience to interact and connect with these subjects. Our hope is that these voices will carry beyond the border towns and into the interiors of both countries to deepen the understanding of the unique challenges the region faces.

The U.S.-Mexico border traverses an entire continent, forming the longest land border between the developed and the developing world. Debates about immigration, international trade, cultural change, terrorism and security, environmental quality, and the drug trade converge on this international boundary. These debates keep the border in the national consciousness of both countries, but often fail to consider the complexity and diversity its residents describe.

Please keep up with us as we add stories to this mosaic by joining our mailing list or our facebook group.

crew

Ben Fundis graduated from Bard College with a degree in film studies. He is the editor and director of "Que Mira?" a documentary about a refuge for former street children in the cloud forests of Nicaragua.

Clara Long has an academic background in development studies and human rights and holds a master's degree in journalism from Stanford University. She's worked and studied in Brazil and Venezuela. As a journalist, her work has appeared on National Public Radio, in the Times of London, the Associated Press.

John Drew is the co-founder and former associate editor of "The Citizen," a hyper-local magazine based in New York's Hudson Valley. He grew up in Peru, Bolivia and Venezuela and graduated from Duke University with a degree in economics.

Sophia Dengo is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's multimedia journalism program. A Texas native, she has worked as a producer and journalist in Peru, Chile and Mexico.