This film is about Malena, a 1st generation Mexican-American female scientist, and her experience with the dead. Juana Doe is the poor female immigrant whose bones are discovered on Day of the Dead. This film will discuss culture along the border. Our team will be made up of womxn and men of color.

Juana Doe is fiscally sponsored by The Film Collaborative, a 501(c)3 organization.

ALL donations are tax deductible.

Para leer sobre nuestra campaña es español visite: https://goo.gl/oWPsYA

We ran out of water. We are very tired. Please keep praying for us.

- Last text message sent by a Texas border crosser to her sister. Her body was never found.

Along the Texas/Mexican border, undocumented immigrants are dying from dehydration, heatstroke, or hypothermia after crossing the border illegally into Texas. The text message above is an example of the last form of communication a loved one receives before a border crosser goes missing. Statistics are showing that border crossers are calling 911 for help via a “throw-away” cell phone but sometimes 1st responders don’t arrive on time. Before crossing, many immigrants are coerced to travel without identification so it's harder to detain them if apprehended. It also makes it harder to identify when their bodies are found.

A wave of skeletal remains are showing up near the Texas 15 foot border fence and local forensic anthropologists are drowning in work. With the anticipation of the 30 foot border “wall”, being installed by the Trump administration, many predict these numbers will double all along places a border wall will be impossible to build.

More on how the border "wall" will be geographically impossible in some sections. Click HERE

Forensic anthropologists create a story from recently discovered bones. Sometimes these evidence based connections help loved ones have closure. In many cases, DNA evidence from exhumed bones is vital to help scientists determine a cause of death and a place of origin. In many underfunded Texas border communities, local officials can't afford DNA testing, so to save money they bury them in mass graves.

During my research I was able to discover that in one county in Texas, 90 miles from the border fence, the bodies and remains of more than 500 migrants have been found since 2009. I learned that unidentifiable migrant remains were disposed of in milk crates and/or garbage bags into unmarked graves. I've added a graph in my images page to show how many deaths have been documented.

Texas law requires that all unidentifiable remains be given a DNA test but many of these border communities, with an influx of immigrant deaths in their counties, can’t carry out a standardized or coordinated manner of collecting samples. These actions make it difficult for volunteer forensic anthropologists when exhuming bones because the samples can be contaminated. This creates conflict for the scientist trying to do their job properly and difficult for loved ones from far away to get closure.

My protagonist is Malena, 35, a 1st generation Mexican-American forensic anthropologist working under these difficult conditions. She speculates that border officials are not collecting DNA samples properly on purpose given they have a strong anti-immigration stance that we will see throughout the story. This in turn creates a frustration in her because she knows it is Texas law to collect a proper DNA sample on all unidentifiable remains no matter the status of citizenship. Her adversary is Dr. Sanchez, a local coroner/judge who would rather be playing golf than dealing with volunteer forensic scientists snooping in his backyard.

According to Southern Poverty Law Center, “Anti-immigrant hate groups are the most extreme of the hundreds of nativist and vigilante groups that have proliferated since the late 1990s, when anti-immigration xenophobia began to rise to levels not seen in the United States since the 1920s.”

My story takes a turn when a local teenager discovers a set of bones that are linked to an undisclosed mass grave. These skeletal remains belong to Juana. During an examination of Juana’s skeletal remains, Juana's spirit enters Malena’s body, believing she is Malena. For Juana and Malena this feels surreal. Juana waking from a long nap and looking through the eyes of Malena and for Malena, she feels a spirit is camping inside her body.

As she looks for clues to identify Juana’s origin, she is confronted with DNA contamination that happened when they buried her remains. The bones have different DNA samples, are severely damaged, and Malena must conclude she can’t properly identify her.

In order to get her body back, Malena must give Juana a proper moment of closure. This is the remedy to the newly discovered supernatural ability Malena has developed. Her body will be the bridge that helps lost souls cross into the spirit world.

This recent discovery of her supernatural abilities happens on Day of the Dead (Dia De Los Muertos) holiday.

Malena will help Juana who is stuck in a place that is ni de aqui, ni de alla (neither here, nor there) and transition her to the next phase of her journey by cremating her bones.

The film ends with Juana crossing into the spirit world with the help of La Coyota (half-woman/half-coyote) and Malena moves on to the next set of skeletal remains.

This story is about death, hope, empathy, and compassion. I want to produce an evidence based narrative that discusses immigrant lives. I want to produce a film about the people who work under strenuous conditions on the border (Forensic Anthropologists, Border Patrol Agents, & 911 Call Operators). I will present a point of view that reflects a unique border identity. One of resilience, culture, and empathy. I will create a film that is a catalyst to discuss this humanitarian crisis.

Timeline & Completion

We want to fundraise for 30 days starting on Thursday Nov. 2nd.

Work for about a month after that on pre-production to start creating a production schedule and securing the crew and cast. We want to start shooting in 2018 by including everyone who is interested in our project and continue to have your support all along its journey.

Your donation helps with our PRODUCTION phase.

With every donation you give, we fine tune the project in pre-production and open the film pre-production process to the public by sharing it with you all along the way. LIKE and SHARE us on all your social networks.

We have already created a short visual storyboard (POC Short Film) that you can look at to get a taste of the tone. Review our MEDIA tab.

This will give the film an opportunity to increase its quality in ways we couldn't alone because we already worked out issues that arise when working with a no-budget production.

Most of the money raised during pre-production will go towards securing a Super 16mm Film camera/lens package thru MPS Austin. See breakdown below:

Where The Money Goes

Super 16mm film camera/lens package via MPS in Austin - $2670

Super 16mm film negative Vision3 250d - $1070

Feed our cast and crew - $1800

Hire cast and crew - $1250

Production Insurance for the Super 16mm film camera/lens package rental - $1000

Lab negative Processing/Telecine - $1100

Art Department/Location Permits - $1000

Contingency (Murphy's Law) -$1000

Grip Truck Rental - $800

Art Dept (props and set staging) - $750

Location Permits - $560

Rewrites will be FREE and the Director will be donating his time.

Please review the videos in our media section so you can see the transformation of a scene to a sequence of scenes on our POC Short Film.

www.juanadoe.com





