Synopsis
While traveling to start a new life in the United States, a young boy gets caught up in the underworld of human traffickers. Carlos Mendez, a ruthless man who deals in the business of human trafficking, hijacks a van loaded with migrants making their way north to the border. Miguel is one of them. Uncomfortable with the predicament he finds himself in, Miguel attempts to escape into the desert. The desert at night is no place to confront or escape the likes of Carlos and his henchmen. Miguel's dreams are shattered when Carlos makes an example of him.
Statement from the Director - Marco Santiago
El Tráfico came about in response to a class script writing assignment for an MOS short to be produced as a class project. The short film was selected in part because of the production challenges it was thought to provide the class as a film crew.
The theme of El Tráfico reflects my perception of the tragic conditions, which exist in the deserts north and south of the US/Mexican border, specifically in the desert areas of Southern Arizona and the area just south of its border.
The problems related to trafficking in humans are increasingly alarming. Aside from the fact that this activity is outlawed on both sides of the border, it has profound adverse consequences where human rights are concerned.
While filming my documentary, Into the Border, I witnessed human suffering that I would not have otherwise observed. El Tráfico is a dramatic interpretation of my observations where these issues are concerned.
El Tráfico is my first 16mm film project. Although it is only 5 minutes long, I feel that it paints a simple yet profound picture about the prevailing conditions in and around the border. I'm very satisfied with the theme I elected to expand on as my introduction into the world of cinema.
Bios
Marco Santiago
Director/WriterBeginning his filmmaking journey with a feature length documentary currently in production titled "Into the Border", Marco continues to explore the border theme with El Tráfico . He has since directed another short 16mm film titled Pecan Run. Only recently re-energizing his filmmaking ambitions, Marco is no stranger to filmmaking. In the late 70's, while in Junior High School, he owned his own Super 8mm film camera and projector, and produced a series of shorts dealing with urban life in the Bronx, where he was born and raised. Marco attended Arizona State University where he majored in Aerospace Engineering, History, and Applied Mathematics. He holds a B.A. degree in Business from Western International University, and is currently a film student in the Motion Picture and Television Program at Scottsdale Community College. Marco is a licensed pilot and an MIS technical analyst with the Inter-tel Corporation, and he runs a fledgling film production company, Volarefilms LLC.
Scott Trimble
Director of PhotographyScott Trimble honed his cinematic skills with eight years of photojournalism at newspapers and magazines nationwide. He won national and international recognition with a two-year documentary following the trials of a police officer that suffered Parkinson's Disease. Scott currently works for the Arizona Republic and hopes to involve himself in strong documentary projects combining still and motion photography. He also hopes to move into major film productions.
Chris Redish
Casting DirectorChris Redish is a director, writer, actor, and comedian from England, now living in Phoenix, AZ. Chris directed the shorts The Heartbreaker and No One Touches Me. He was a comedy writer for the animated TV pilot The Naked Universe, and for animated commercials for Intel and Digital Equipment Corporation, produced by Rainbow Studios. Chris's second screenplay, A Cat's Tail, won the Actor's Choice Award at the Santa Fe Comedy Screenwriters' Conference in 2002. Chris is a past president of the Phoenix Stage and Screenwriters' Group. He has studied with Richard Krevolin, Richard Walter, Louis Anthony Russo, and Gay Gilbert, among others.
Chris was a character model for the Fox animation Anastasia, and has appeared in numerous films and commercials. Chris performed for seven years with the improv groups the Oxymoron'z and the Jester'z and was the host of Clif's Speakers' Spotlight on KRDS Radio in Phoenix, AZ. He won Best Actor - Original Monologue at the Barebones International Film Festival, 2000.
Chris has performed stand-up, sketch and improvisational comedy in the U.S., England, Holland, and the Sudan. U.S. performances include: KPNX News at Sunrise on NBC; Coyote Springs Brewing Co., Phoenix; USA Café, Las Vegas; Buzzy's, Las Vegas; Star Theater, Scottsdale and a number of conferences.
Amy Lovering
Production ManagerAmy Lovering worked for Fox Television, PBS, ABC Sports, and on the TV series The Young Riders. She worked as production manager for Picturehouse Entertainment (an L.A. based film company). She taught TV production at the Al Collins Design School. Amy is currently in negotiations to develop and produce an educational video on pet overpopulation issues on Arizona Indian Reservations.
Jason Saylor
EditorJason Saylor has been involved in various 16mm short films in various capacities as director and cinematographer. He considers his specialty to be editing. He has been playing the drums for over half his life, and is a drummer and vocalist in a local rock band in Tempe, Arizona. Jason currently attends the Motion Picture and Television Program at Scottsdale Community College.
Tracy Sagalow
Production DesignSince finishing work on EL Tráfico, Tracy has crewed for various short films and is currently in post-production for a short she wrote and directed.
Bivas Biswas
ActorOriginally sought as a behind-the-scenes cinematographer for El Tráfico , Bivas Biswas demonstrated impressive improvisational skills when he was asked to audition for the antagonistic title role. Mr. Biswas was born and raised in India where he wrote and composed Hindi songs for 12 years.
Mr. Biswas was cinematographer for Game of time, an independent eature film. He has worked on many other film projects as editor and soundman. He is a software engineer with an M.S Degree in Computer Science from Arizona State University, and lives in Arizona with his wife and 4-year-old son.
Robert Ramirez
ActorPlaying the young Miguel, Robert Ramirez(12 years old) is a sixth grader at Paseo Verde Elementary in Peoria, Arizona. He has been involved in theater for three years. His theater credits include Meet Me in St. Louis (ensemble), Shadowlands (Douglas), The Emperor's New Clothes (The Emperor), Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (children's chorus) and The Hobbit (Thorin, Leader of Dwarves). He is a Frank Jeffrey's scholarship recipient from Theater Works for the years 2002 and 2003. He was in a computer animated short film, The Scary Story Project (Jason), did a staged script reading for the film, Polo, starring as Polo, and did background work for the film Mind The Gap to be released in spring of 2004.
While not busy with acting, Robert loves to play video games and baseball, read, and roller blade. At school, he is class representative for student council, runs cross-country and was recently accepted into the gifted learning program. Robert hopes to some day be a professional actor.
David Gonzalez
ActorAn Associate Artist with the San Diego Planet Earth Multi-Cultural Theater Company, David has performed in many of their stage productions in the Phoenix and Seattle areas, which include productions such as White Horse, The Secrets of Shakespeare, Danton's Death, The Conduct of Life, El Sueno, Haunted Summer, Edward II, No Exit, Life is a Dream, and Motel Tales. Although currently living in Phoenix, he is still an active board member with the San Diego based Theater Company. David is also very active behind the scenes, often working as a production assistant on video/film/theater projects in Arizona. He is a graduate from The Art Institute of Phoenix, AAS Degree in TV/Video Production and also holds an AA Degree in Communications from Phoenix College.
Production Notes
El Tráfico, a simple yet pointed look at the world of human trafficking, is loosely based on a highly abbreviated version of the opening scene to Volare, a feature film currently in development by Marco Santiago.
Human trafficking has assumed front and center stage in the news. Two years ago Marco Santiago embarked on a journey to write a screenplay for a film using the Mexican/American border along southern Arizona as its backdrop. At the time he only knew of the border from what he learned watching local and national television news and from reading newspapers. He only had a superficial knowledge of the so-called vigilante groups, coyotes, and the bajadores who victimize and take advantage of the migrants who attempt to cross the desert.
On July 5th, 2003, Marco began production of a feature length documentary titled Into the Border. Into the Border began life as nothing more than a research vehicle for the development of the Volare feature film. In order to learn more about the issues and the physical conditions surrounding illegal immigration and the people involved, Marco spent a week with the U.S. Border Patrol, made many trips into parts of Mexican not usually visited by tourists, and conducted interviews in both countries. Into the Border took on a life of its own and became a project worthy of continuing for the sake of spotlighting the human drama unfolding in the Arizona deserts, but it also provided Marco with inspiration for dramatic fiction storytelling. El Tráfico was born out of this research and firsthand observations.
Interestingly, only two days after the production of El Tráfico, a running car shootout on Interstate 10 just south of phoenix between immigrant-smugglers, ended with four people dead and five wounded. The thematic similarities between reality and fiction were very close, right down to the van used in the film.
El Tráfico was a joy to write and direct, but it was a challenging shoot. The film was shot over a 23-hour period in the desert area of North Scottsdale, Arizona. Over 23 set-ups were done, most of them at night and in cold and damp conditions.
Links to Recent Press
Border Tragedy Inspires Film
By By Jennifer Voges
Staff Writer Ahwatukee Foothill News Sept. 5, 2003 12:00 AM http://www.ahwatukee.com/afn/entertainment/articles/030905a.htmlTeacher Mixes Adventure into Curriculum
By Lindsey Collom
The Arizona Republic Sept. 3, 2003 12:00 AM http://www.azcentral.com/news/education/0903GmigrantsZ6.html