Ay Mariposa

Ay Mariposa

US-Mexico, border wall, border wall construction, Texas, Rio Grande Valley, Ay Mariposa, Butterflies, immigration, border issues, Marianna Trevino Wright, Zulema Hernandez, Krista Schlyer, Jenny Nichols, Morgan Heim, Ay Santa Ana

53826

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Ay Mariposa Trailer from Ay Mariposa Film on Vimeo.

Synopsis

When Marianna Trevino-Wright finds government contractors tearing up the land of the National Butterfly Center, the ensuing confrontation sets off a battle with the U.S. government to prevent them from building new sections of the border wall on the center’s property. Not far away in the Rio Grande Valley, Zulema Hernandez, a Mexican immigrant in her 70s marches four miles in the summer sun to protest the border wall and stand in defense of butterflies, her favorite animal. The air of the Rio Grande Valley is full of butterflies., the most to be found anywhere in the United States. They may just carry the soul of the valley on their wings.

Ay Mariposa follows the intertwining stories of Marianna, Zulema and the butterflies as they endeavor to save Texas’s Rio Grande Valley from new U.S.- Mexico border wall construction. This story is more than a film. It is a movement. The film is the brainchild of Director Krista Schlyer, who for more than a decade has documented the environmental impacts of the border wall. In 2018, Jenny Nichols, founder of Pongo Media Productions, and I joined Krista to produce the feature film Ay Mariposa. During its making a firestorm of border wall construction and budget appropriation meant there was a need to roll out films even as we were still in the thick of the main story. And so, Ay Mariposa released two short films, Ay Santa Ana and #StopTheBorderWall.

Ay Santa Ana from Ay Mariposa Film on Vimeo.

The first was a film to protect the Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge from imminent destruction for new wall, and was released at a pivotal moment during budget talks and used by Sierra Club and Defenders of Wildlife to rally protesters for the refuge’s protection. The culmination of these events, of which Ay Santa Ana was but a small part, resulted in Congress naming Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge as an exception to the planned development, temporarily protecting it from new construction.

#StoptheBorderWall from Ay Mariposa Film on Vimeo.

#StoptheBorderWall was a second companion piece released in conjunction with a concerted social media campaign to get #stoptheborderwall to trend again during critical time in border wall construction talks in Congress.

Ay Mariposa and Ay Santa Ana have gone on to appear in numerous film festivals around the country, with Ay Mariposa winning best cinematography at the 2019 United Nations Association Film Festival and Ay Santa Ana being highly commended in the Jackson Wildlife Film Festival Media Awards (widely viewed as the Oscars of wildlife film). The film is just the beginning. Visit the Ay Mariposa film website and you can access a wide array of action materials and resources to advocate for no more border wall and arrange your own screenings.

Directed By: Krista Schlyer

Directors of Photography: Morgan Heim and Jenny Nichols

Edited By: Jenny Nichols and Morgan Heim

Starring:

Marianna Tervino-Wright

Zulema Hernandez

100s of Butterflies