Director
„The Frontier“ or „La Frontera“ is the undulating landscape of the Sonora Desert in Arizona, which once was a symbol of freedom on the horizon of the American West – and also a region plagued by recurrent territorial struggles. Currently, a high steel fence stretches over several miles strictly separating the USA and Mexico into two territories. Every year, the remains of hundreds of migrants are retrieved from the area. The tense situation in Arizona’s borderland has split the locals into two groups: one demanding a more technically advanced border control system, the other requesting more humanitarian help. Accompanying various locals, NGO workers and self-proclaimed border guards from the region, filmmaker Gudrun Gruber raises the question of whether the latest border control technology will finally bring peace to the area, or rather merely increase the number of deaths.
Director
Mercedes built the first greenhouses of San Agustín with her own two hands. She is now an old lady, and Andalusia has long since become Europe’s vegetable plantation, with 90% of the sweet peppers in our supermarkets coming from the so-called plastic coast. It’s a lucrative business – but not for the farmers of San Agustín, whose share of profits is miniscule. This results in many of them taking on cheap labour from illegal African immigrants. A mysterious virus that threatens to destroy the crop further compounds the situation – with the affair dubbed the “cucumber crisis”. In this portrayal of a village and its people, three filmmakers highlight in nine chapters the deeper workings of industrialised agriculture – presenting another side to Southern Spain, far from its image as a beach filled, party Mecca. Like the holiday industry, vegetable growing receives criticism for its excessive exaggeration. But who are the real black sheep?
