The edge-of-your-seat doc Roads of Fire explores undocumented immigration into the US by cross-cutting together three stories –
- an Ecuadorian asylum-seeker prepares for her deportation hearing,
- a small NGO faces the tsunami of migrants being dumped by the Texas Governor into NYC, and and
- a group of Venezuelans try to get from Columbia to Panama on the first leg of their journey.
The inside story of the Venezuelans is an incredible insider’s view – down to their orientation by their smugglers. We hear the Ecuadorian woman’s description of the same harrowing route as we follow the Venezuelans. Wow.
Many of the shots involve zipping through the jungle on motorbikes, hiding from authorities and interfacing with human traffickers. With its oft-breathtaking derring-do, Roads of Fire is a significant achievement for filmmaker Nathaniel Lezra. Every year, I screen a bunch of immigration-centered documentaries, and hardly ever do I see one with this much punch.
Super-topical, well-crafted and very compelling, Roads of Fire opens Friday at the Laemmle’s Monica Film Center and next week at the Glendale and the Claremont 5.