Sustainability Series: AY MARIPOSA

Watch Trailer Director: Krista Schlyer

About the films

Ay Mariposa (57 minutes)

Tells a story of three characters in the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas whose lives are upended by plans to build a US-Mexico border wall. As the director of the National Butterfly Center, Marianna Trevino Wright has become a leader of wall resistance in the Valley, a position that has resulted in violent threats from pro-wall factions and an emotional odyssey as she tries to navigate the ever-shifting sands of border policy. Zulema Hernandez, a life-long migrant worker, immigrant and great grandmother, has been a dedicated advocate for all migrants, both wild and human-kind. Meanwhile the butterfly, la mariposa, fights its own daily battle for survival in a landscape where more than 95 percent of its habitat is long gone and much of what remains lies directly in the path of the wall.

The River and the Wall (2 minutes)

Follows five friends on an immersive adventure through the unknown wilds of the Texas borderlands as they travel 1200 miles from El Paso to the Gulf of Mexico on horses, mountain bikes, and canoes.

Conservation filmmaker Ben Masters realizes the urgency of documenting the last remaining wilderness in Texas as the threat of new border wall construction looms ahead. Masters recruits NatGeo Explorer Filipe DeAndrade, ornithologist Heather Mackey, river guide Austin Alvarado, and conservationist Jay Kleberg to join him on the two-and-a-half-month journey down 1,200 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border.

They set out to document the borderlands and explore the potential impacts of a wall on the natural environment, but as the wilderness gives way to the more populated and heavily trafficked Lower Rio Grande Valley, they come face-to-face with the human side of the immigration debate and enter uncharted emotional waters.

About the series

Athena Cinema, University Libraries and Environmental Studies Program present the 9th annual Sustainability Film Series.

In keeping with all previous series, each film will be followed by a panel discussion featuring faculty members, students and community members. The events will be in-person.

Following each film we invite audience members to join us for a panel discussion hosted by faculty members, students and community members. Please join us for a conversation following these beautiful, thought-provoking and timely films.

The series is possible thanks to the support of: Voinovich School of Leadership
and Public Affairs, OHIO Honors Program, Honors Tutorial College, Cutler Scholars, Office of
Sustainability, Center for Campus & Community Engagement, University College, Athens
International Film and Video Festival, and beloved nonprofits and businesses.