Desert Angel
Director: Vincent DeLuca
United States, Mexico, 2024, 87 min
Shooting Format:Digital
Festival Year:2025
Category:Documentary Feature
Crew:Executive Producer: Douglas Choi. Producer: Séverine Tibi.
Email:vincent@bigpupfilm.com
Synopsis
Forty years ago, Rafael Larraenza took his life into his hands to cross into the US from Mexico. After building a successful career and gaining legal status, a twist of fate rocked his comfortable middle-class existence and drew him back to the border. The first to systematically search for lost immigrants, he is a highly esteemed hero in Latin American communities, having spent the last 25 years searching the treacherous deserts and mountains for immigrants in need of rescue - saving hundreds of lives and recovering the remains of those who perished attempting to cross. With only his determination and a shoe-string budget, Rafael is determined to bring closure to families torn apart by the harsh realities of migration.
Now, we join Rafael at a fraught time in his quest. After decades spent on deadly terrain and in need of a double hip replacement, Rafael is unwilling to slow down — haunted by the knowledge that a few minutes can mean the difference between life and death for those lost along the border. When Indira, a mother from El Salvador, requests help for her missing son, university student Rodrigo, Rafael directs all of his energy to save the young man. But the years have taken a toll on Rafael's body and resources. With every search-and-rescue mission he risks his own life, not knowing if and when the desert will finally claim him too.
Trailer
About the director
Vincent DeLuca is an award-winning filmmaker who works in narrative and documentary film, branded content, and commercials. Vincent’s latest documentary, “Desert Angel,” won best feature documentary at the Austin Film Festival and jury awards at the Palm Springs International Film Festival and Julien Dubuque International Film Festival. He produced and directed the short documentary “Mile 19,” which played festivals worldwide and was distributed by National Geographic. He executive produced “The Sleeping Negro,” (2021) which won the FIPRESCI award at IFF Mannheim Heidelberg. Vincent is a member of the Producers Guild of America (PGA).
Filmmaker's note
I grew up in San Diego where the border felt tangibly ever-present. About a third of the kids I grew up with were from immigrant families, many who had crossed from Mexico and Central America undocumented. From a fairly young age, I understood and was horrified by how a seemingly arbitrary line had the power to radically shape so many lives.
The first time I met Rafael, I was awe-struck by his character, in how he chose to live his life, courageously and selflessly, and his temperament that was so kind and gentle, towards all living things, even bugs! As we talked, we realized we had an unexpected place of overlap. Rafael had searched for my friend’s dad, who had gone missing while crossing and ultimately died in the desert. It dawned on me that Rafael’s humanitarian work was his way of mitigating or pushing back on the power of that arbitrary border line.
The filming of this documentary along the 2,000 miles of border posed numerous challenges. Dragging a team armed with cinema cameras into 120-degree weather, where well-prepared people often die, was difficult to say the least. On one early search, the soles of my shoes melted off and we had to gaff tape them onto my feet so I could make it out. I realized that the film required a vérité treatment to do justice to the sights and sounds that Rafael experiences. The film’s cinematography and sound design aim to give viewers an experience of this seemingly scenic, yet terrifying landscape.
Over these five years of filming, we have seen an increase in the cruel, dehumanizing rhetoric and policies towards immigrants. We entered an unprecedented time that has driven the United States farther into insularity, extreme individualism, and nationalism. Rafael’s life stands in contrast to the line-drawing and finger-pointing. For those to whom the border is merely a political issue, I hope Desert Angel helps them see from Rafael’s perspective. He treats every crosser as a friend worthy of the risk. And for those audience members for whom the border is already an all too present reality, I hope they see their stories in Rafael and those he helps, where they are the strong, courageous and loving central characters, not the “foreigners.” It is a tremendous honor to have been a part of telling Rafael’s story. I am grateful and forever changed through these years of exposure to him and the indomitable spirit of the people he helps.