The Guardian of Memory

According to the International Institute for Strategic Studies Mexico became one of the deadliest conflict zones in the world in 2017 second only to Syria In 2008 the Mexican government sent the army to Chihuahua on the MexicoTexas border to fight drug traffickers What seemed like an attempt to control the cartels turned into statesponsored disappearances and the murder of journalists human rights activists and civilians The survivors and those threatened by the conflict pushed at the unwelcoming border of the United States hoping for asylum With stunning visual poetry director Marcela Arteaga weaves together a record of their memories told over the backdrop of the oncevibrant landscape of the Juarez Valley She also highlights the extraordinary work of Carlos Spector an immigration lawyer born in El Paso Texas who fights to obtain political asylum for those Mexicans fleeing violence