A Feature Documentary​

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Two families search for their loved ones who went missing in the fields of Brooks County, Texas after crossing from Mexico and find a sobering truth: the deadliest part of the journey is far from the border. 

Reviews

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"One of the most nuanced and disturbing...films about the immigration crisis."  – Boston Globe

"Exceptionally effective... The images speak for themselves"  – Film Threat

"A sobering piece of film."  – Film International

Awards

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Best Southern Feature • Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival

Best Documentary Feature • Ashland Ind. Film Festival

Best Documentary Feature • Toronto Arthouse Film Festival

Best Documentary Feature • San Luis Obispo Int. Film Festival

Best Documentary Feature • Newburyport Documentary Film Festival

Best Documentary Feature • Doc Boston Film Festival

Best Documentary Feature • Adirondack Film Festival

Best Documentary Feature • Thin Line Festival

Best Documentary Feature • Atlanta DocuFest

Best Documentary Feature • Lost River Film Festival

Audience Choice Award, Best Feature Film • Tacoma Film Festival

Audience Choice Award • San Luis Obispo Int. Film Festival

Press

TIME MAGAZINE

"More MIgrants Die Crossing the Border in South Texas Than Anywhere Else in the U.S. This Documentary Depicts the Human Toll"

THE GUARDIAN

"New documentary Missing in Brooks County looks at Falfurrias, one of the busiest immigration checkpoints in the the US..."

DEMOCRACY NOW!

“'Missing in Brooks County': Thousands of Migrants Denied Due Process at Border Have Died in Desert"

FOREIGN POLICY MAGAZINE

“The Rolling Tragedy of 'Missing in Brooks County'"

TEXAS MONTHLY

“Every Year, Hundreds of Migrants Die or Go Missing in Brooks County. A New Documentary Tells Two Families' Stories.'"

DAILY BEAST

“The Many Nameless Migrant Skeletons Buried Along America's Border"

TEXAS OBSERVER

“In 'Missing in Brooks County," The Migrant Crisis Haunts South Texas"

Texas Tour

THANK YOU TEXAS
FOR AN UNFORGETTABLE TOUR!

Newsletter

   Theatrical Run

   Past Screenings

News

"Border Patrol tallies record 557 migrant deaths on US-Mexico border in 2021 fiscal year" - Oct. 29, 2021

"Missing in Brooks County: A tragic outcome of U.S. border and migration policy" (PODCAST) - Sep. 27, 2021

"Huge border influx brings fears of grim summer for migrant deaths" - June 3, 2021

"How Brazen Smugglers Are Fueling Record Numbers At The Southern Border" - May 3, 2021

"Following A Spike in Migrant Deaths, A New Law Could Help Identify the Dead" - Jan 5, 2021

   Participants   

MOISES ZAVALA

has come to Brooks County to search for his missing cousin Juan who made the dangerous crossing from Mexico and was last seen at a local ranch. Moises won't leave Brooks County until he finds his young cousin.

OMAR ROMAN & MICHELLE CHINOS
have returned to Brooks County to find out what happened to Omar's brother, who went missing after fleeing from Border Patrol.

ALEX JARA

is a Border Patrol agent who goes out

on regular searches to find migrants

lost in the brush. He wonders aloud

about how to manage the emotional

toll his job takes on him. 

EDDIE CANALES

is a retired union organizer who came out of retirement to open the modest South Texas Human Rights Center to deal with the missing migrant crisis. Canales is the only humanitarian help available in Brooks County, and his phone never stops ringing with families desperate to find their missing loved ones. 

DR. KATE SPRADLEY

is a biological anthropologist at Texas State University. With her team of graduate students and colleague Krista Latham, Kate is trying to process the scores of bodies which were recently found buried in mass graves in Brooks County. 

MICHAEL VICKERS

is a respected veterinarian and avid hunter who tracks and detains migrant trespassers on his land. He and his wife founded a paramilitary group that patrols ranches in South Texas. 

Take Action

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Learn more about Border Patrol's 'Prevention Through Deterrence' policy.

Write your representatives about the issue.

Donate to the South Texas Human Rights Center, which provides humanitarian aid to migrants lost in Brooks County.

Educational Sales

Click below to buy or rent the film for your educational institution or non-profit organization.

   Filmmakers   

JEFF BEMISS

(CO-DIRECTOR, PRODUCER)

is an award-winning, Oscar-shortlisted writer/director who has worked in shorts, features and documentaries. His work has aired on network television and PBS. He is a graduate of the University of Southern California film school and the L.A. Sanford Meisner Academy. Jeff is a Connecticut Artist Fellow and a Film Independent Fast Track Fellow. He freelances for disability and social activist clients and has taught film at Trinity College in Hartford, CT.

LISA MOLOMOT

(CO-DIRECTOR, PRODUCER)

 has directed and edited documentaries about the American Southwest in recent years including Precious Knowledge, The Cleaners, and Soledad. She has also focused on stories about education. Her hugely popular film School's Out has been an integral part of the movement for providing outdoor education for young children, and her recent short film Teaching in Arizona is an inside look at the teaching crisis in that state.

JACOB BRICCA, A.C.E.

(EDITOR, PRODUCER)

is an award-winning documentary editor who has worked on over a dozen features, including Lost in La Mancha (IFC Films) and the 2016 Sundance award winner The Bad Kids. He last worked with Molomot on her feature The Hill, which was broadcast on PBS. A member of the American Cinema Editors, he is an Associate Professor at the University of Arizona's School of Theatre, Film & Television.

Funders

Missing in Brooks County is funded by ITVS, Fork Films, and Engel Entertainment, with additional funding from Perspective Fund, the Arizona Commission on the Arts, the LEF Foundation, the University of Arizona Office of Research, Innovation and Impact, Human Rights POV,  UA Hanson Film Institute, the Connecticut Office of the Arts, MountainFilm, and the University of Arizona College of Fine Arts. Fiscal sponsorship by the International Documentary Association.

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