"I wanted to make a film that makes Latin Americans think twice about traveling to the U.S. illegally," says [Paraiso Travel, a new Colombian movie's] Colombian-born director, Simon Brand, "but one that also makes Americans think twice about how these people are treated once they get here."

A new movie out of Colombia, called Paraiso Travel (or Paradise Travel), depicts the jounrey of a group of young Colombians from their homeland, through Panama and Mexico and into the United States, and all of the ugliness and beauty along the way. I haven't seen it yet, but the previews look excellent, and as you watch them you can see glimpses of the horrors hidden deeper within the movie and even deeper in the consciousness of the American public.

For around 50-60% of undocumented immigrants, even the option of traveling to the U.S. on a tourist visa and overstaying is not an option, which means they have to journey across the border one way or another. The dangers of this are not always obvious when you're coming from far away and paying a coyote who has been over and back many times and remains unscathed. Many people have no idea of the conditions of the border now, especially those who have crossed before in better times, or who have family who did, and some express surprise when they finally make it (or are caught) barely hanging on to their lives. Hopefully this movie will work for its first purpose in familiarizing people with the real struggle, with no sugar coating or outrights lies.

But I'm also extremely interested in the impact the film will have on the second group mentioned, namely the Americans who don't realize the injustices people suffer when they live here without papers. Of course, whether it actually reaches that audience will depend on where it shows, but it seems to have he sex, violence, and cinematic flair that would attract a heavy crowd of movie goers.

At the end of Time's article about the movie, a question is asked:

Is our immigration dysfunction really worth the human pain it causes migrants and the political pain it causes us?

I'd like to give my answer later, but for now, what do you think?