The River and The Wall
Plymouth Film Club Discussion Feb. 7 of
The River and the Wall, guest hosted by Plymouth IWWG, RJI, and Sunday Forum
by Richard Jewell
Plymouth Film Club is offering a discussion of The River and the Wall (2019, 97 min., documentary) Sunday, Feb. 7, at 12:30 pm on Zoom. Plymouth’s IWWG–the Immigration Welcoming Work Group –chose the film. IWWG, Plymouth’s Racial Justice Initiative, and Sunday Forum are guest hosts.
Beth Faeth and Joan Thompson, both travelers in Plymouth’s recent Border Trip to Arizona, will facilitate the discussion. The film is appropriate for all ages; please view it on your own before the discussion (see options below).
Presidents have been talking for many decades about building physical barriers between Mexico and the U.S. to better control immigration. President Trump decided to do it big. Though multiple administrations from both parties have been involved in building border fences, under President Trump the process was accelerated.
In 2018, five friends decided to bike, hike, boat, and ride horseback 1200 miles to see “The Wall” along the Rio Grande in Texas. Their filmed journey is a gorgeous testament to the beauty of this “Grande” North American river, as well as a telling story of a partly-built Wall that divides not just the people of two nations, but also U.S. ranchers, park visitors, and citizens from the river.
The five friends start in El Paso. We see the rugged beauty of the Rio Grande and environmental issues in building the Wall. As the friends descend into the Lower Valley of the river in more heavily populated areas, they learn of other issues: immigration, ranchers’ access to land, and U.S. citizens access to state parks and national wildlife refuges.
The Hollywood Reporter calls The River and the Wall “visually stunning and politically sharp.” The film won three awards, one of them at the internationally famous SXSW Film Festival. Conservation filmmaker Ben Masters recruited a National Geographic explorer, an ornithologist, another conservationist, and a river guide for the trip.
Join us in watching The River and the Wall on your own and then discussing it with Plymouth members Feb. 7. Watch a 2-min. preview/trailer at https://theriverandthewall.com or a 4-min. “teaser” at www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtB5KmrdMtY. The entire film is available as follows:
RENT (Note: some services may require a subscription): Amazon Prime, iTunes, Netflix, Starz (7-day free trial), Tubi, YouTube, Vimeo
BUY (Some of these let you buy and watch online): Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Best Buy
To join the discussion, click on https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89339693168 at 12:30 pm on Sunday, Feb. 7. If you haven’t used Zoom, yet, show up ten minutes early to download its simple, safe software. We will look forward to seeing you for this very topical discussion about an excellent film!