The Gulf of America

The documentary is a portrait of this reverse phenomenon in a small fishing village that is shaken up by the arrival of newcomers. Ronny from Alabama, a baseball umpire for the expat team Los Jalapeños, came to Mexico to pay for knee surgery that was unaffordable in the US: ‘I came here because I could never afford the care I needed in the US. I stayed because Chelem offers me more security than my own country.’

Kelly from Texas, a chain-smoking widow, is living her dream life in this paradise and, together with her friends, has created the flamboyant YouTube channel The Real Housewives of Yucatán, full of self-mockery, sun and glamour. José, a local fisherman, saw his village change before his eyes. Now that he has been pushed out of fishing, he builds villas for the newcomers to support his family.

With The Gulf of America, Itza Bocken Mendez and Daniel Patrick Holmes show not only a local transformation, but also a universal story about inequality, the privilege of a passport and the human quest for a better life. While Trump carries out mass deportations and creates a narrative of fear around migration, millions of Americans are quietly taking the same route, but in the opposite direction.

Stills: © Omma Films — VRT