TRAILERS

Roberto Urbina in Festival Trailer for Border Crossing Film 'Deadland'

by Alex Billington
February 28, 2023
Source: YouTube

"I saw you praying in the desert. I was there." A festival trailer is out for an indie film called Deadland, marking the feature directorial debut of filmmaker Lance Larson. The film is premiering at the 2023 SXSW Film Festival coming up in March, playing in the Narrative Spotlight section this year. The film is described as a pyschological thriller - U.S. Border Patrol Agent, Angel Waters, makes a routine apprehension that will haunt him forever. "Though the immigrant he took into custody is killed at a border outpost, his death is only the beginning of the suffering Angel must endure… Set against the backdrop of the harsh and desolate Rio Grande river, Deadland uses the American and Mexican border as a launching pad to explore not only immigration but identity." This stars Roberto Urbina as Angel, McCaul Lombardi, Julieth Restrepo, Kendal Rae, Luis Chavez, Julio Cesar Cedillo, Manuel Uriza, Chris Mulkey, Chris White, and Dave Maldonado. This looks haunting & unsettling! Not just another drama about the US-Mexico border.

Here's the festival promo trailer for Lance Larson's film Deadland, direct from YouTube:

Brief synopsis via SXSW: U.S. Border agent Angel Waters comes across what would normally be a routine illegal crossing, but It quickly devolves into his worst nightmare. Barely clinging to life, the immigrant utters, "El Paso, por favor." In a tragic twist of fate the immigrant is killed while being held at a remote border outpost. Under the cover of darkness, Angel and his two fellow agents bury the body deep in the desert in an unmarked grave. Days later Angel is called back to the river where he finds the same migrant at the river's edge. The man calmly utters the same bone-chillingly request again, "El Paso, por favor." In a world divided, Angel will soon learn that some divisions only run so deep… Deadland is directed by indie filmmaker Lance Larson, making his feature directorial debut after numerous other shorts previously. The screenplay is written by Lance Larson and Jas Shelton. This film will be premiering at the 2023 SXSW Film Festival in March. No other release dates are set yet - stay tuned for updates. First impression? Look good?

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