Deeper Compassion For Families Forever Changed By Deportation: Cesar Martinez Barba On His Short "Dial Home"
Director/Cinematographer/Producer/Editor César Martínez Barba is interested in non-fiction work that channels narrative and inventive approaches to filmmaking. He is drawn to stories about representation and the relationship between the United States and Mexico. Cesar's editorial work has appeared at festivals such as HotDocs, Hamptons International Film Festival, and Big Sky Documentary Film Festival. His latest film, Dial Home, shares a story of deported call center agents who make phone calls across the US-Mexico border.
Within the walls of a Tijuana call center, a feeling of being in limbo pervades. Homesickness floods the telephone line as agents deported from the United States make calls across the US-Mexico border.
This topical documentary film won the Jury Award for Best Documentary Short Film at San Francisco International Film Festival and has screened at a variety of festivals, including Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival, Double Exposure Film Festival and Camden International Film Festival. We had the pleasure of chatting with Cesar about the film, its origins, finding a fresh angle to deportation, and much much more!
How did the concept for Dial Home originate? How did you find this fresh angle on the issue of deportation?
I became aware of this subject matter after learning about the mushrooming call center industry across Mexico, and more particularly about the presence of many deportees staffing English language tele-agent positions.
For the past few years, I have been interested in creating a series of short films that interrogate the relationship between the United States and Mexico, and this story demonstrated a clear microcosm of the complex and nuanced reality of both places. I was particularly interested in the experience of liminality that many deportees describe when working at an English language call center in Tijuana, just minutes from the border with the US. This “limbo” of being in Mexico, condemned from stepping foot into the US, and likewise “working in” the country that they were raised in, speaking the language they know best, registered to me as a parable about the violence of displacement and deportation compounded by the perversion of capitalism.
Exploring this story through the experiences of Oscar and Alison was imperative to creating a register of empathy and nuanced understanding on the relational impact of deportation for audiences. Framing the narrative of the film through Oscar’s YouTube videos allowed the film to be placed in the context of a first person viewership, aiming to emulate the experience of watching or commenting on Oscar’s YouTube channel. The film works towards creating an environment that feels like a science fiction film — reflecting the dystopian qualities of Tijuana’s rapidly growing call center industry.
Creating this angle for the film was meant to transform the “present” into the “future,” in an aim to guide the audience towards a comprehension of tomorrow’s dystopia being here with us today.
How long were you following around your subjects, and did it take some time for them to warm up to your camera?
The film took about three to four weeks to shoot. During that time, I was able to collaborate with my Producer, Yadira Rodríguez, to approach call centers and folks who were working there with our interest in creating a film about their experiences. I had already met Oscar (although virtually) after finding out about his YouTube channel, Life After Deportation.
After being able to see and spend time in a few different call centers in Tijuana, I was able to meet Alison, who was working as a manager on a campaign at one of these many offices across the city. Throughout the time that I was working with Alison and Oscar, I was able to spend time with them in different areas of their life, with the intention of demonstrating the relational impacts of their experiences with deportation. Both Oscar and Alison were tremendously generous with their time, their testimonies, and their openness.
What was your process for assembling these stories in the editing room?
I had been scripting the film and editing scenes while I was still in production (usually in the evenings), to get a clearer understanding of how the film’s narrative and thematic structure could evolve through new scenes and moments that I would be filming. The use of Oscar’s voice from his YouTube channel was one of the guiding frameworks for the structure of the film — in an attempt to create the first person “YouTube viewer” experience the film aims to emulate. Additionally, interviews with both characters helped structure individual scenes where they express their personal stories.
Do you have a favorite scene or moment from the project?
It is hard to pick a favorite scene in the film, but I get the most excited about the scene in Oscar’s office, where we get to learn about the operations of his specific call center, while also getting a sense of how the feeling of being in the call center makes the employees forget they are in Mexico. I enjoy this scene because I think it expresses the dynamic nature of a call center job, while also demonstrating some of the more absurd and politically connected services that call centers can execute — a hotline for bail bond services based in California, but partially operating out of Tijuana.
What drew you to the visual arts? How did you get into directing?
I have long been drawn to filmmaking, and enjoyed a childhood full of movies and trips to theaters. I started making videos when I was 12, and have not been able to shake the bug since. I was greatly supported by a youth arts program where I grew up in San Antonio, Texas, called SAYSí. This after school program had a media arts division. This is where I learned how to properly shoot, edit, and make short films. Additionally, my multi-disciplinary education in Media Arts and Culture at Occidental College further informed the intentions behind why I wanted to make films. The Creative Culture fellowship program at the Jacob Burns Film Center, which supported the production and creation of Dial Home, allowed me to solidify my intentions to pursue a creative path in documentary film directing, which I am still following and discovering.
What films or filmmakers have inspired you, your style, or your approach to telling a story?
I have been most deeply influenced by Patricio Guzmán’s Nostalgia for the Light. His capacity to create connections between seemingly disparate stories, characters, and landscapes changed the way in which I see the poetic capabilities of non-fiction film. Additionally, I love films by Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Koreeda Hirokazu, Spike Jonze, Natalia Almada, Christian Petzold, Elizabeth Lo, and Mohsen Makhmalbaf.
Each of these filmmakers has the special capability of making the world look new and unknown to me in their respective works.
What do you hope audiences take away from the film?
I hope that audiences are able to walk away with a deeper empathy for people who have been deported, are facing deportation, and a deeper compassion for families forever changed by deportation. The aim of this film is to demonstrate the ways in which deportation can usurp a person’s life, sense of identity, and notion of belonging. The film also seeks to explore how people are able to rebuild their lives after deportation, serving as witness to the resilience of our characters.
Do you have any future projects in the works that you can share with us?
I am interested in continuing to explore issues related to the relationship between the United States and Mexico. I’m currently developing a project about marigold flowers (called ‘cempasúchil’ in Mexico) used during the Day of the Dead celebrations.
What do you think? We want to know. Share your thoughts and feelings in the comments section below, and as always, remember to viddy well!