Exodus: A Documentary and Discussion

The School of Historical Philosophical and Religious Studies and the Center for Imagination in the Borderlands are proud to present the premiere screening for Exodus: A Documentary.

Following the screening, film director Bijoyini Chatterjee will be reunited in conversation with ASU associate professor of history, Alexander Aviña and the director of Centro de Atención Para Migrantes (CAME), Adalberto Ramos, who are both featured in the film. Audience members will also be invited to participate in a Q&A with the panelists.

About the film

In late 2019 the only migrant shelter in Agua Prieta, Sonora is filling up with families from the Mexican state of Guerrero. Shelter director Adalberto Ramos (Betto) is appalled to see entire families with young children and babies coming to seek political asylum in the United States. In his 20+ years of sheltering and protecting migrants and refugees from all over the world, he has never seen families with children of all ages seeking protection at his shelter.

Betto and his team of binational migrant workers are horrified by stories of random killings, disappearances and forced displacement of entire villages, all without redress and all without a word from Mexican media.

Exodus weaves cinema-vérité footage with first-hand migrant testimonies, investigative trips to Guerrero, and interviews with historian Dr. Aviña and investigative journalist Dr. Paley as the film uncovers the unexpected global forces behind the extreme violence and humanitarian crisis. The documentary highlights the courage and resilience of shelter workers who refuse to be silenced and gives voice to the very people who are fleeing for their lives.

This event is free to attend, but RSVP is required as space is limited. 

About the speakers 

Bijoyini Chatterjee is an independent documentary filmmaker and co-founder of Onirica Productions.

Her first feature documentary was Flamenco Syndrome (2019) – about the deeply rooted gypsy folk music of Lower Andalucia (Spain). Flamenco Syndrome was screened at multiple theaters and venues across the US and Spain.

Her second feature documentary, Exodus (2025) examines what the War on Drugs in Mexico and its devastating consequences are really about, while offering hope in community and collective action.

Bijoyini, her partner Juan Carlos Barrera (co-producer of Exodus) and their daughter lived in the borderlands (Bisbee, Arizona) for 10 years, where they produced Exodus.

Adalberto Ramos es un defensor de los derechos humanos de las personas en contexto de movilidad. Es un laico católico con formación scalabriniana en atención a migrantes con más de veinte años de experiencia en el acompañamiento directo. Coordina el CAME y el Centro de Recursos para Migrantes, por lo que es un referente a nivel local en el tema. 

Es licenciado en Intervención Educativa por la Universidad Pedagógica Nacional y ha cursado varios estudios sobre el tema migratorio: Primero Auxilios Psicológicos, Pastoral Migratoria y taller Socio - teológico. 

Tiene un fuerte compromiso humano y pastoral en este ministerio; además, su tenacidad ha permitido impulsar a un equipo de servicio para atender de forma integral a la población en movilidad.

Alexander Aviña is an associate professor of Latin American history in the School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies at Arizona State University. He previously taught at Florida State University. His book, "Specters of Revolution: Peasant Guerrillas in the Cold War Mexican Countryside" (Oxford University Press, 2014), was awarded the Maria Elena Martínez Book Prize in Mexican History for 2015 by the Conference on Latin American History. He has also published articles in the Journal of Iberian and Latin American Research and the NACLA Report on the Americas.  

His current research project explores the links between the political economy of narcotics, drug wars, and state violence in 1960s and 70s Mexico.