"I was born in McAllen, Texas - a little border town. Growing up there it was not unusual to have friends that were migrants or to encounter people in the country illegally. Really, it was pretty odd to be a white kid in a part of the country that is so influenced by Mexico." Documentary filmmaker Tommy Davis told me by email. His film "Mojados: Through the Night" is a grueling viewing experience and makes you appreciate the sacrifices Mexican citizens make to realize the American dream.

"When I left home to go to school I encountered an ignorance and a general ambivalence of why illegals would even want to be here or what it takes to get here - and then one day it was really kind of an obvious thing - I was sitting around listening to a guy talk about his desert crossing - and I knew it was something I had to film." Davis' personal connection to the subject matter made the film possible. In "Mojados," he spends a few days traveling across the border from Mexico into the United States.

In my review of the film, I got it wrong Davis did drink the desert water and eat the moldy food.

"Yeah, the deal was that I was allowed to come along as long as I did not give away too much about their future destinations and as long as I endured everything with them." Davis admitted. The "everything" endured included drinking water located in puddles in the desert. At one point, one of the Mexican immigrants stated that the water tasted like Kool Aid.

Davis continued.

"In fact, before I went on the trip Oso [one of the subjects featured in the film] came to me and he told me he wanted to show me something. He had me grab my 85lbs of gear and then took me up and down a mountain a few times - it was a crazy test and I was dying but I just tried to keep a smile on my face and then at the end he looked at me and he said, 'kay, we're both pretty tired let's stop faking it.' After that he was willing to give me a shot. As far as anything bad (health wise) happening from the desert journey, I haven't had any long lasting health effects. The water out there actually tasted like New York City Tap water - other than that, just a few cactus needles in my arms for about 6 months following the shoot."

At the end of the film, it appeared that Davis lost contact with the four men he followed.

"I've kept in contact with two of them. Tirgre and Oso - they continue to go back and forth between the U.S. and Mexico, they're both hopeful some kind of program will be created because neither of them care too much for the desert crossing - they get a real kick out of the movie - and they're excited about the DVD - a little cash finally."

In his documentary film, Davis states that some 2000 Mexican citizens die each year trying to cross over into this country. I asked him how he would save more lives on our borders?

"We need a guest worker program. People will continue to cross, they'll find ways, it's inevitable, but we need to have a policy that permits the demand to be met in a more humane manner. The current policy is ridiculous and ill conceived. Everyone runs around yelling about illegals, but let's be realistic - they have their wages taxed and they pay Social Security Benefits - to the migrants in Mexico it's a joke, they pay into Social Security and never see the benefits."

Davis continued.

"On a side note - creating a program that allows them to enter the U.S. legally will allow them to have more faith in the police so they won't fear reporting crimes. As it stands, in some parts of the country the police can turn migrants over to the INS - which creates a Catch 22 if a migrant is raped or robbed - they have no desire to report these crimes."

"Mojados" exposes vividly the porous US borders. Obviously, this situation is a possible terror risk, I asked Davis why events in Iraq take precedent.

"Hopefully Bush will introduce a guest worker program and actually see it through. I think he's genuinely interested in working on it, but blood sells newspapers and unless you find a massive amount of bodies or people start carrying weapons on the border, the mainstream media tends to ignore the problem."

Davis is next preparing a narrative feature version of "Mojados" entitled "This is How it Happened." He is somewhat mysterious about the subject of his next documentary which sounds intriguing.

"On the documentary front I'm at work on a doc exploring a revolutionary 1953 scientific breakthrough. I'm going to update some staid documentary techniques and I also want to tell the story with not only the main character but also his ex-lovers, friends, bartenders and colleagues. It's basically about a genius whose main focus is girls and his side project happens to one of sciences' greatest achievements."

Hmmm...sounds racy and interesting; I can't wait! "Mojados: Through the Night" is now available on DVD at: http://www.mojadosmovie.com/

Jonathan W. Hickman