This press kit was initially posted on THE LONG WALK OF CARLOS GUERRERO website.
Upcoming theatrical screenings:
August 9 – 15, Laemmle NoHo 7, Los Angeles.
The Film
Inspired by real immigrant journeys, The Long Walk of Carlos Guerrero is a story of survival set in the desert wilderness of the Arizona borderlands.
Synopsis
When Carlos Guerrero, a New York City chef, decides to visit his sick mother in Mexico, he knows he is taking the ultimate risk as an undocumented immigrant.
The film follows his epic journey back to New York when he and a young girl from El Salvador get stranded in the deserts of Arizona.
Press and Audience Reactions
“A migrant’s harrowing ‘heroes journey’ through the Arizona desert that celebrates the contributions of undocumented immigrants” -Emily Bregel, ArizonaDaily Star.
“A riveting film about the sacrifices immigrants are forced to make every day to reach their loved ones.” -Belen Sisa, Latino Press Sec. Bernie 2020
“This film will certainly become a required viewing for anyone concerned with immigration and the struggle for human rights”-Ray Ybarra Maldonado, Immigration Attorney and activist, Phoenix, AZ.
“Thank you for changing the narrative and creating a piece from our people’s POV”- Janet Rocha, Phoenix, AZ.
“This movie left me in tears, but also with a profound feeling of belonging. I felt seen, identified, and understood” -Brenda Lopez, Phoenix, AZ.
“A poignant film with a powerful social commentary” -Laurie Cantillo, Humane Borders, Tucson, AZ.
“Powerful and relevant. Grateful for spreading the truths of travelers and our borderlands” -Di Karlin, Samaritans of Tucson
Why this story?
Beneath the surface of this survival thriller, you will find an urgent American story of immigration and identity. Undocumented immigrants play a vital role in our economy and society, yet they are often demonized and their contributions rarely acknowledged. By telling a story of one of them through a classical hero’s journey narrative, we hope to shift awareness.
Director’s Statement
In the early 2000s, I saw an article in the New York Times about migrants dying in the deserts of southern Arizona. Being an immigrant myself, this story moved me deeply. On a whim, I flew to Tucson. Little did I know that I would spend the next three years, making my documentary Crossing Arizona (Sundance – 2006). The film is a wide-angled snapshot of what I saw and experienced over that period of time along the Arizona- Sonora border. In Sonora, I met Central Americans who had fled political and gang violence and were about to make the treacherous crossing through the desert; in the vast Tohono O’odham Reservation, I followed Mike Wilson, a Native American humanitarian who was desperately trying to stop migrant deaths by creating water stations in desolate areas of the desert; in Southern Arizona, I met ranchers who were angry with migrants cutting fences and entering their property in search of water; and then there was the ascendancy of the Minutemen, an armed right-wing militia group, patrolling the border.
From that time, I secretly nurtured the idea of making a film about a migrant’s journey of survival — a “hero’s journey” that would composite real immigrant stories and my personal experiences into a single narrative.
Many years later, my friend Carlos Garcia died suddenly of cancer in New York in 2015. Carlos was Anthony Bourdain’s sous chef for many years at Les Halles Brasserie and eventually succeeded him as the Executive Chef after Anthony left to do television. Carlos was from Puebla, Mexico. He had started as a dishwasher and worked his way up the hardscrabble rungs of New York’s restaurant scene to become the Chef of a popular French brasserie. Carlos once told me that during the time he was an undocumented line cook, he was unable to see his family in Mexico for over a decade.
This realization of the secret trauma that many undocumented immigrants and their families live through, inspired me to make my protagonist a New Yorker, taking the ultimate risk to go back home to visit a nailing parent. The film would be about his journey back home to New York, crossing the border all over again to get back home to his wife and child. The story would be a true reflection of the status and vulnerability of many immigrants in this country, framed within the narrative construct of a survival thriller.
The Filmmaker
Joseph Mathew-Varghese was born and brought up in Kerala, India. After he immigrated to the U.S. in 1994, he eschewed a career in Finance to pursue a lifelong covert dream of becoming a photographer and filmmaker. After a brief stint as a photojournalist, he ventured into long-form story-telling.
He completed his first feature documentary, “The Last Season: The Life and Demolition of Baltimore’s Memorial Stadium” in 2003.
His second documentary, “Crossing Arizona”, examines immigration through the lives and actions of the people living along the Arizona–Sonora border. It premiered at the Sundance Film and was awarded the One Future Prize at the Munich Film Festival.
In 2009, he completed his first narrative film, “Bombay Summer”.Set with in the youth culture of contemporary India, it subtly reveals how rapid modernization is affecting a fiercely traditional society.
Besides “The Long Walk of Carlos Guerrero”, Joseph is working on a feature documentary “A Border Crossed Land”, the story of a Native American community that got separated by the creation and militarization of the US-Mexico border.
The Actors
The film has an all-minority, latinx cast starring Jonathan De La Torre and Jocelyn Sanchez in break out performances. Rogelio Camarillo plays a supporting role. Both Jonathan and Rogelio are native Arizonans, now plying their acting trade in Los Angeles. And then there are the non-actors who are humanitarians in real life, including Mike Wilson, a Tohono O’odham tribal member and human rights activist.
Film Details
Unrated, 2023. Running time: 107 minutes. In Spanish and English with English and Spanish subtitles.
Directed and Produced by: Joseph Mathew-Varghese
Executive Producers:Pierre Hauser, Uday Jhunjhunwala
Impact Producers: Dora Rodriguez, Dr. Angeles Maldonado, Belén Sisa,and Alejandra Pablos.
Contact:Email:joseph@thelongwalkmovie.tv
Cell: 917 833 9503
Website:www.thelongwalkmovie.tv
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