Along the southern desert border in Arizona, it is estimated that only one out of every five missing migrants are ever found. Águilas is the story of one group of searchers, the Aguilas del Desierto. Once a month these volunteers—construction workers, gardeners, domestic laborers by trade—set out to recover the missing, reported to them by loved ones often thousands of miles away. Amidst rising political repression and cartel violence, as well as the eternal difficulties of travel in the Sonoran Desert, the Aguilas carry out their solemn task.

Águilas lays bare the tragic reality of migrant death by venturing deep into the wilderness of the borderlands. The desert is a vast cemetery where the bodies and dried bones of migrants lie exposed under the scorching sun. In a world where efforts to humanize the migrant experience often get lost within the statistics and headlines, this documentary provides an observational and poetic response to one of the most pressing issues of our time, undocumented immigration and the hardships of the border crossing experience.

Heartland Film Alumni: Wonder Women! The Untold Story of American Superheroines, Audience Award, 2012

In English, Spanish, with English subtitles.

Programming descriptions are generated by participants and are edited for length and clarity, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Heartland Film.

Film Contact:

Kristy Guevara-Flanagan

kgflanagan@tft.ucla.edu