Independent Film Spurs Law Makers & Human Rights Organizations To Take Action.

Following a string of recent screenings of the “The Gatekeeper,” legislators and human rights organizations, including Amnesty International, are using the film to educate and implement much needed changes to this country’s immigration policy. “The Gatekeeper,” John Carlos Frey’s film about the injustices faced by undocumented immigrants in America, is quickly becoming a voice for the issue of human trafficking.

“We must move whatever mountains necessary,” said Arizona State Senator Scott Bundgaard.

Following the screening, Arizona state officials began pushing through Senate Bill 1201, a bill that will make Arizona a fair labor state and assure that all workers are paid for the jobs they are hired to do.

“Once you see this film, you will never think about the immigration issue and the Mexican people the same way again,” added Ruben Alvarez, a policy advisor for Mexico to the Arizona Governor.

Organization Latinos Unidos (OLU), a resource center in Arizona dedicated to uniting the 40 million Latinos that live in the United States, are using the film as a torch to bring attention to the plight faced daily by the many people who enter this country illegally.

“‘The Gatekeeper’ is the Schindler’s list of the Mexican people’s struggle to survive in America,” said Sonia Montero Falcone, President and Founder of OLU.

Because of its combination of reality-based gritty filmmaking and timely story telling, “The Gatekeeper” will help launch the OLU officially with a screening at the organization’s cornerstone event this October.

“There are people who think that ‘The Gatekeeper’ is extreme, but I tell you, it’s nothing compared to what really happens at our Mexico/U.S. border,” said Roberto Sanches Garcia, Chief Representative of the Governor of Sonora,
Mexico. “Americans would be shocked to learn just what is happening in this land of the free today.”

With the current strained relations between Mexico and the U.S. as well as the increase in border deaths, the independent film “The Gatekeeper” hits a timely mark. “The Gatekeeper” exposes the realities of human trafficking, organized crime and the under belly of the 2,000 mile border with Mexico. “My hope is that the film serves as a timely vehicle to expose the
injustices which continue to occur in our own backyard,” adds director JohnCarlos Frey.

John Carlos Frey, first time director and writer of “The Gatekeeper,” was born in Tijuana, Mexico and raised in San Diego, California. He has personally witnessed some of the injustices explored by the film. The project was self-financed and family supported. The film has won top honors at both the Santa Barbara International Film Festival as well as the San Diego Latino Film Festival and is slated for at least eight more festivals this fall.