A documentary by Costa Rican filmmaker and producer, Miguel Gómez, aims to highlight the perils of irregular migration by focusing on the Mesoamerican corridor.

From January – July of this year, the United Nations Migration Agency (IOM) registered 230 deaths of such migrants attempting to cross from Mexico into the United States.

By recounting the true story of members of a Costa Rican reggae band who attempted to travel to the U.S. overland through Central America through illegal channels, Gómez charts their 2-week travail which culminated in them nearly drowning while crossing the Rio Grande on the U.S.-Mexico border.

The documentary was made with support from the IOM, and is titled The Fable of the Lion and the Coyote.

“The Mesoamerican region is one of the most important migratory corridors in the world, in which persons who migrate irregularly are easy prey for networks of migrant smugglers, who take them through dangerous routes and provide them with false documents, exposing them to situations that violate their human rights,” said Alexandra Bonnie, IOM Regional Coordinator of the Mesoamerica Program.

“In the first seven months of 2017, IOM registered the deaths of more than 230 migrants along the border between Mexico and the United States. We hope that the testimony of the young members of this group will contribute to the understanding of the risks associated with irregular migration that anyone can come up against,” she added.

The film, divided into five chapters, tells the story of Talawa’s musicians: Alonso Rojas, Gerardo Quirós, Bryan Chavarría, Francisco Barboza and Andrés Solano. The documentary is inspired by the life-threatening journey of the band and their sound engineer, Juan Carlos Briceño, through Central America to the United States, without American visas, and motivated by false expectations of a tour contract.

The documentary exhibits the risks that the group’s members faced, from malnutrition to the theft of their musical instruments and death threats from a migrant smuggler. Additionally, the members describe how they almost lost their lives trying to cross the Rio Grande River that divides Mexico and the U.S., said the IOM about the film.

The UN Migration Agency hopes the documentary will alert people, especially youth, on the multiple risks of irregular migration. These can include being exposed to or subject to sexual or gender violence, extortionate kidnapping, gang recruitment, child labour, labor exploitation, trafficking in persons, and even death.

 

Costa Rican filmmaker Miguel Gómez, director of Italia 90 and Maikol Jordan, presented the story as a documentary series of five chapters of three to five minutes length each. the first chapter can be seen below.

For more information on the film, contact Patricia Ugalde at IOM Costa Rica, 2212-5300, email: <[email protected]>.

TALAWA comes from the Jamaican saying “Me Likkle but me TALAWA,” which translates to, “I’m Small But Strong.” Talawa is the Patois word that represents power, strength, and belonging. The group was formed by three friends in 2002, and by 2006 had incorporated other members to achieve its current size, according to Irie Magazine.