Director: Ilana Lapid
Producers: Vineet Dewan, Francie Wasser, Ilana Lapid
Cinematographer: John DeFazio
Production Designer: Adán Avalos
35mm / 17 minutes / color
SYNOPSIS
Set against the backdrop of the US/Mexico border, “Red Mesa” is the coming of age story of Lynn, 17, caught in between her love for her grandfather and her forbidden romance with a Mexican laborer from a neighboring ranch. Lynn’s deception of both men leads to a terrible accident when the three of them are thrown together under a situation of great stress. Coming face to face with the painful realities of the border, Lynn realizes that meaningful relationships can only be based on honesty and the courage to stand up for what you believe.
DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT
My life’s experiences involved the crossing of many geographical and cultural borders. As a result, I developed a fascination with the complex relationship between borders and identities. We typically define who we are through a process of bordering differentiating ourselves from the “other.” Borderlands can be moral testing grounds, the sites of serious ethical dilemmas, as confirmed by the recent heated debate on immigration.
Growing up in southern New Mexico, I am especially interested in the human stories to be found along the US/Mexico border. What interests me is the extreme pressure exerted on all who occupy and cross the border: immigrants who risk everything, ranchers and land-owners who feel besieged, and those brave or “foolish” enough to associate with people from the other side of the line. The protagonist of “Red Mesa,” Lynn, belongs to this last category. Lynn finds herself caught between two men, her grandfather and her boyfriend, who exert enormous pressure on her. Her relationship to both men is dramatically re-defined after a tragic accident throws the three of them together. In the crisis that ensues, Lynn stands to lose the person she loves most, but she also stands to gain self-awareness and strength by discovering her voice and emerging into her own.
Each character in “Red Mesa” is caught “in between.” Each is forced to weigh the importance of love against the importance of personal ideology. The film offers no simple answers, but brings up many difficult questions. What happens when a person is caught directly between two opposing sides of the border? What happens when she realizes that the person she loves most doesn’t share her values? Should she stand by him in his time of need? Is it possible to re-draw the boundaries of a relationship without losing it? “Red Mesa” is a topical but also deeply personal story, a cinematic exploration of the powerful themes that most intrigue me at this moment: love, family, and borders. I believe that cinema can participate in and make personal the major issues of the day. My thesis film is produced in this spirit.
- Ilana Lapid, Director