Bethel students work with Guatemalans to produce documentary on hardships of immigration

A student-led documentary sharing the stories of the attempts of three men to cross from Mexico into the United States is set to premiere Thursday at Bethel University in Arden Hills.

"Border of Dreams," produced by students at Bethel and Francisco Marroquin University in Guatemala City, seeks to reframe the issue of immigration by focusing on the experiences of those who have tried to cross the southern U.S. border.

"Immigration is such an evergreen issue," said student producer Soraya Keiser. "People will fight on both sides of the aisle, but you can't fight with a person's experiences."

The project began with a Bethel journalism class trip to Guatemala in January 2022, when Keiser and her Guatemalan project partner learned about a local family that had failed three times to cross into the United States.

The Bethel team left Guatemala with a magazine story centered on the family, but it felt unfinished, Keiser said. Professor Scott Winter, who taught the journalism class, suggested they continue pursuing the story.

After landing a $25,000 grant for the project from Bethel's Edgren Scholars Program, the student team was connected with an undocumented family in the U.S. by a Bethel theology professor who works with such families, Winter said.

Working on the project alongside Guatemalans gave the documentary a fresh, passionate perspective, in large part due to the insight of director and Marroquin University graduate Nataly Basterrechea, Keiser said.

"We wouldn't have this story without the students from Guatemala," Keiser said. "It would've been impossible."

Filming in each country took place throughout the summer of 2022, with some reshooting in the fall, Winter said. Post-production was completed over Zoom.

"Watching fireworks on July 4th with an undocumented family is the most exciting thing I've ever done on a July 4th," Winter said.

Even if the project had turned out poorly, it would've been a success because of how much everyone learned in doing it, Winter said.

Basterrechea and editor Hana Ko, another Marroquin graduate, were in charge of guiding the story, Winter said. Their goal was to frame immigration not as a political issue but a personal one, by introducing viewers to the lives of Abel Gomez and Mardoqueo Racuch. Gomez made it to the U.S.; Racuch did not.

Basterrechea "never wanted to make either one of them a victim, like, 'Oh, we're this poor family,' " Ko said.

One challenge in navigating the storytelling process was to honestly present the men's sacrifices for their families without framing migration to the United States as an automatic success story, Ko said.

"We're showing the hardship that they have in their lives, but at the same time trying to dignify them and show their beauty," Basterrechea said.

The documentary will be shown at this year's Antigua Film Academy Festival and is up for two awards. Independent movie theaters in several states have asked to show it, Winter said.

Basterrechea and Ko plan to attend Thursday's premiere of the 40-minute documentary at Bethel's Benson Great Hall, which is open to the public. Basterrechea said she was nervous, since the project so far has been seen only by a small group of people.

"I'm really looking forward to listening to what people think about the story," she said.