San Angelo director films border wall documentary
San Angelo's Ben Masters pairs with Nat Geo WILD's Filipe DeAndrade for "The River and The Wall," documenting a two-month trek along the Rio Grande.
San Angelo director films border wall documentary San Angelo's Ben Masters pairs with Nat Geo WILD's Filipe DeAndrade for "The River and The Wall," documenting a two-month trek along the Rio Grande. Check out this story on gosanangelo.com: http://www.gosanangelo.com/story/news/local/2017/12/07/border-wall-documentary-directed-san-angelo-native-ben-masters/925209001/
Krista Johnson, San Angelo Published 2:27 p.m. CT Dec. 7, 2017 | Updated 11:46 a.m. CT Dec. 13, 2017
Our questions launched an unprecedented report. See it at thewall.usatoday.com.
Central High School graduate Ben Masters is shown in the documentary "Unbranded."(Photo: Contributed photo)
San Angelo native Ben Masters has embarked on a new journey, in which he and four other photographers and adventurers are traveling 1,200 miles along the Rio Grande and the U.S.-Mexico border, to produce a documentary, "The River and The Wall".
The purpose of the two-month trip — which will include biking, horseback riding and canoeing — is to document the land before further wall construction, exploring the impact a wall could have on wildlife, landowner rights, immigration and more. The team began near El Paso on Dec. 1, 2017.
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Masters, the film's director, is known to the San Angelo community and elsewhere for "Unbranded," his first documentary. Accompanied by three friends, Masters embarked on a 3,000-mile ride from the southernmost tip of the United States to Canada on wild mustangs, demonstrating the ability to transform the mustangs into domesticated horses. Since premiering in 2013 the film has won numerous awards, and it is now on Netflix.
Most recently, Masters made a stop in San Angelo during the West Texas Film Tour, showcasing films that focused on hunting, adventure and wildlife.
The idea for "The River and The Wall" came to Masters while making a short film about mountain lions in Texas, said Hillary Pierce, the film's producer. After speaking with researchers and scientists, Masters learned some of the populations could suffer from an expanded border wall, Pierce said.
The 1,200-mile journey for the documentary "The River and The Wall" began Dec. 1, 2017. This photo, posted to the documentary's Facebook page, shows the progress made by the five-person team. (Photo: Contributed/The River and The Wall)
Realizing the topic hadn't been studied or discussed much in the debate over constructing a border wall, he began making preparations for the trip.
That included planning the route, reaching out to border landowners, assembling a team, talking to various agencies such as border patrol, training the horses for the journey and buying the necessary equipment.
Team members include:
Filipe DeAndrade — a Brazilian immigrant and host of Nat Geo WILD's series "Untamed."
Heather Mackey — an ecologist who focuses on the conservation of birds and will conduct some first-time bird surveys along the border.
Austin Alvarado — a river guide in the Big Bend area and first-generation Guatemalan-American.
Jay Kleberg — associate director of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation.
Much like "Unbranded," Pierce said, the idea for the film, which should premiere in January 2019, is to bring people down to the space being explored, showing viewers the wildlife in the region and the beauty of the landscape.
"If you're thinking about building a border wall, you should definitely see the space," she said, adding the film will not be focused strictly on wildlife, but will explore all aspects of the journey.
"It's not a political or partisan thing," Pierce said. "We'll share the opinions of the people that call this area home. We're exploring in a really organic way."
Raw: Aerial footage of the start and end of the U.S.-Mexico border
Since the journey began, the team met with Rep. Will Hurd, of the 23rd District of Texas, on Dec. 4, 2017. The Republican representative, whose district covers 800 miles of the border, shared his views on constructing a wall while riding with the team for 10 miles, Pierce said.
A Facebook post on "The River and The Wall" page summarized the time spent with Hurd: "He believes that a physical continuous border wall would be exponentially more costly and less effective than using available technology. He also spoke about how many of his ranching constituents don't want the federal government to steal their land to build a wall and about conserving the natural beauty of the river and the landscapes in his district. He introduced the SMART wall legislation, which has bipartisan support that will approach border security on a mile-by-mile basis and by using technology instead of constructing a physical 30-foot contiguous wall."
Post by theriverandthewall.
Pierce said the team will switch from mountain bikes to horseback, using Masters' mustangs, at Presidio, Texas. At the town of La Linda, the team will begin their travels by canoe until reaching Falcon Lake, where they will resume biking. There will be another switch back to canoes before the journey ends at Brownsville.
The team will post progress reports on Facebook,Instagram and Twitter.
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Post by thewallusatodaynetwork.
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