Cineculture : The River and the Wall

Oct 4: The River and the Wall (2019) 

Discussant: Heather Mackey (Biologist featured in the film) 

 Directed by conservation filmmaker Ben Masters, The River and the Wall follows five friends on an immersive adventure through the unknown wilds of the Texas borderlands as they travel 1,200 miles from El Paso to the Gulf of Mexico on horses, mountain bikes, and canoes.  The film emphasizes the urgency of documenting the last remaining wilderness in Texas as the threat of new border wall construction looms ahead.  For this film project, Masters recruited NatGeo Explorer Filipe DeAndrade, ornithologist Heather Mackey, river guide Austin Alvarado, and conservationist Jay Kleberg to join him on a two-and-a-half-month journey along the Texas-Mexico border. Together they set to explore these borderlands as well as the potential impacts of a wall on the natural environment.  However, as the wilderness gives way to the more populated and heavily trafficked Lower Rio Grande Valley they come face-to-face with the human side of the immigration debate and enter uncharted emotional waters. 97 minutes.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RM9ojghVW-g