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South of the Border (1987)

Synopsis

South of the Border looks at the role of music in the grass roots political protest movement in Central America.

David Bradbury films various bands singing protest songs and talking about government oppression in Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Mexico

Curator’s notes

David Bradbury has produced a large body of work, most of it passionately concerned with political issues seen from a left-wing point of view.

The film incidentally raises a number of interesting ethical dilemmas including whether by producing a film that criticises an undemocratic government, the filmmaker may be exposing the film’s subjects to the risk of imprisonment or worse; and the issue of misrepresenting the purpose of the film in the process of obtaining official permission to film.

Bradbury completed a university degree in history and politics at the Australian National University then worked at the Australian Broadcasting Commission. His other films concerned with this region of the world include, Fond Memories of Cuba, Chile: Hasta Cuando? and Nicaragua: No Pasaran.