Austin Filmmaker's 'The River And The Wall' Gets Early SXSW Buzz

AUSTIN, TEXAS — There's always that one documentary making a world premiere at SXSW that generates the most buzz given a compelling subject matter and/or its topical messaging. This year, that doc could very well be "The River and the Wall" by Austin-based director Ben Masters.

Scheduled for a major theatrical release for late spring after its global premiere at SXSW on March 9, the Gravitas Ventures film explores the U.S.-Mexico border with a focus on where a physical border wall championed by the Trump Administration would be located and the impacts it would have on the region. Featured will be an interview with former state congressman and potential presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke of El Paso, Texas, whose profile was raised after nearly beating incumbent Sen. Ted Cruz in a strong showing in deeply red Texas (he lost by a mere three percentage points).

The doc has already garnered the attention of some critics, including Danielle Solzman of Solzy at the Movies, who writes: "The River and the Wall is going to be one of the most-talked about documentaries of 2019 because of its timeliness in the current political environment...If there's a film that's going to make you angry this year, let it be The River and the Wall. If this film doesn't make you angry, I don't know what will!”

The timely new documentary feature The River and The Wall (www.theriverandthewall.com), from award-winning Austin-based director Ben Masters (Unbranded) and Emmy-winning Austin-based producer Hillary Pierce (Tower) will have its world premiere at the SXSW Film Festival this Saturday, March 9, before its theatrical release. Distributor Gravitas Ventures plans a major U.S. theatrical release to more than 100 theaters nationwide starting late Spring 2019.

Gravitas previously released Masters’ award-winning documentary feature Unbranded that followed four young cowboys as they hatched a plot to adopt, train, and ride a string of wild mustangs 3,000 miles from Mexico to Canada through the wildest terrain of the American West.

For its part, The River and The Wall follows five friends on a 1,200 mile journey along the US-Mexico border from El Paso to the Gulf of Mexico. Riding horses, bicycles, and paddling canoes, they travel along the Rio Grande and meet with landowners, border patrol agents, congressmen on both sides of the aisle, immigrants, wildlife biologists, and folks on either side of the Rio to better understand where a physical border wall would go and the impacts it would have.

"The immigrant stories of two of the characters are interwoven through the journey, humanizing the controversial topic of immigration, while they travel through a landscape that could soon crumble to a wall intended to keep them out," according to a press advisory. "Told through stunning cinematography of landscapes and cultures rarely visited and often demonized, The River and The Wall takes viewers on an unforgettable border journey into the most controversial and talked about topic in the world today: the border wall. You will never look at the border the same again."

Photo courtesy of Gravitas Ventures

Public Screenings at SXSW Film 2019

Saturday, March 9, 2019, at 6:45 p.m.
Rollins Theatre at the Long Center
Director, film team, and film subjects in-person.
Plus special guests.

Tuesday, March 12, 2019, at 11 a.m.
Alamo Ritz 2
Director, film team, and film subjects in-person.

Friday, March 15, 2019, at 11:15 am
Paramount Theatre
Film team and film subjects in-person.

https://schedule.sxsw.com/2019/films/2008803

“Gravitas is thrilled to be collaborating with Ben Masters and his team on The River and the Wall,” said Brendan M. Gallagher, Executive Vice President & General Counsel, Gravitas Ventures. “The film is visually stunning and provides much-needed human, practical, and environment perspectives on the divisive border wall issue that has shut down our government and polarized the country."

Masters, the film's director, added: “When we started filming The River and The Wall two years ago when the 'build that wall' rhetoric just began, we had no idea that the issue would blow up into a government shutdown and one of the most controversial topics in the world. We’ve spent the past two years documenting the border, travelled every mile of the Texas-Mexico border on bikes, horses, and canoes, and met with dozens of people on both sides of the Rio Grande to make a film that shows what the borderlands actually look like, how a wall would actually work, and how it would impact immigration, landowners, water access, wildlife, and border culture.”

Masters continued: “We interviewed border patrol agents, immigrants, ranchers, wildlife biologists, Republican and Democratic congressmen, Mexicans, and Americans to hopefully give an accurate portrayal of the border and let the audience decide for themselves if a physical border wall is a good way to approach our immigration and border security challenges. At a time when there’s so much division, ignorance, and false reporting about the border, I’m excited to release the film and allow the incredible landscapes and people there to speak for themselves.”

In addition to O'Rourke, The River and The Wall features, among others, sitting Republican Congressman Will Hurd.

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>>> All photos are courtesy of Gravitas Ventures, used with permission