BORREGO Director/Writer Statement - Jesse Harris
Borrego is about the choices we make. The big, the small and the ones that are nearly impossible to make. The film recognizes that not everyone has fair or easy choices in life and that sometimes we must make a choice, even when we know it is the wrong one. The characters in our film are constantly at battle with themselves and outside forces over the decisions they must make to stay alive, to save someone they care for, or to face their fears.
Spending a lot of my childhood in the desert with my parents, the inspiration for the film came from a true story around my dad, an amateur botanist. He and other volunteers discovered an invasive plant species spreading in the Anza-Borrego Desert in California and the idea was to bring in a professional botanist to study the plant. This set off an entire story in my head. What could someone be running from in life to make them want to move to this remote desert town? The story continued to build from news reports of small ultralight planes being used to bring drugs over the border in this same region, but often crashing in their attempts. My idea was never to make a drug movie, but instead build a more authentic story of the everyday people who are forced into this life and how that could drive their motivations and the action of the film.
What unravels is a thrilling and cinematic neo-western crafted with precise filmmaking, striking cinematography and compelling performances. Borrego is full of action and suspense, but at its heart is a nuanced and emotional story of survival and personal choices.
Jesse Harris on set of BORREGO with Leynar Gomez and Lucy Hale.