{{Infobox film | image = American_Scar_poster.jpg | alt = Film poster for American Scar | director = Daniel Lombroso | producer = {{Plain list| *Daniel Lombroso *Yara Bishara *Melissa Fajardo *Stephania Taladrid }} | cinematography = Adam Perez | editing = Eric Maierson | music = Gil Talmi | distributor = ''The New Yorker'' | released = {{film date|2021| | |Premiere|2022|04|30|Public online release}} }}
'''''American Scar''''' is a 2021 documentary short film directed by Daniel Lombroso. It focuses on the damage caused to desert ecosystems by the construction of a barrier at the Mexico–United States border.
== Synopsis == ''American Scar'' focuses on the damage caused to desert ecosystems by the Mexico–United States barrier, with a particular focus on that caused by the 400-mile portion built under the Trump administration.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Richardson |first=Mark |date=April 29, 2022 |title=Film to Document Environmental Damage Along AZ Border Wall |url=https://www.publicnewsservice.org/index.php?/content/article/78899-1 |access-date=2022-04-30 |website=Public News Service}}</ref> The administration's classification of the construction as a matter of national security made it exempt from more than 80 regulations including the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act, and the Endangered Species Act; the newly built sections of wall endanger more than 70 species.<ref name=":1">{{Cite magazine |last=Oztaskin |first=Murat |date=2022-04-30 |title=The Ecological Destruction from the Border Wall, in "American Scar" |url=https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-new-yorker-documentary/the-ecological-destruction-from-the-border-wall-in-american-scar |access-date=2022-04-30 |magazine=The New Yorker |language=en-US}}</ref> The film additionally argues that the wall is ineffective at preventing border crossings by humans.<ref name=":1" />
== Production == ''American Scar'' was directed by Daniel Lombroso.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |date=2021 |title=American Scar |url=https://www.docnyc.net/film/shorts-our-impact-our-crisis/american-scar/ |access-date=2022-04-30 |website=DOC NYC |language=en-US}}</ref> Its executive producer was Soo-Jeong Kang, while producers included Lombroso as well as Yara Bishara, Melissa Fajardo, and Stephania Taladrid. Adam Perez was the cinematographer, Eric Maierson was editor, and music was provided by Gil Talmi.<ref name=":2" /> The film was publicized by ''The New Yorker''.<ref name=":2" /> It also features video footage taken from a drone by photographer John Kurc.<ref name=":1" />
Produced in the United States, the documentary film is a short with a runtime of 13 minutes.<ref name=":2" />
== Release == ''American Scar'' made its world premiere at DOC NYC in 2021 as one in a group of short films under the theme "OUR IMPACT/OUR CRISIS",<ref name=":2" /> where it received an honorable mention for the grand jury prize for short film, which was won by ''Nasir''.<ref>{{Cite web |title="Once Upon a Time in Uganda," "Ascension" among 2021 DOC NYC award winners |url=https://realscreen.com/2021/11/17/once-upon-a-time-in-uganda-ascension-among-2021-doc-nyc-award-winners/ |access-date=2022-04-30}}</ref> Its international premiere occurred at Hot Docs.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021 |title=American Scar |url=https://hotdocs.ca/whats-on/hot-docs-festival/films/2022/american-scar |access-date=2022-04-30 |website=Hot Docs}}</ref> It was also shown at Big Sky Documentary Film Festival and the Environmental Film Festival in the Nation's Capital, among others.<ref name=":0" />
''American Scar'' was publicly released on April 30, 2022<ref name=":0" /> by ''The New Yorker'' as part of The New Yorker Documentary.<ref name=":1" /> It was later featured on Short of the Week, where it was praised as a "a depiction of 'the wall' as it is not often seen."<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.shortoftheweek.com/2022/06/07/american-scar/ | title=American Scar - a Documentary short film by Daniel Lombroso }}</ref>
== Reception == Wildlands Network borderlands coordinator Myles Traphagen praised the film, describing it as "really highlighting the harms that border-wall construction have inflicted upon protected lands and water and wildlife".<ref name=":0" /> Peter Keough of ''The Boston Globe'' called the film "potent" and recommended it as a documentary to watch.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Keough |first1=Peter |title=Extraordinary animals, an extraneous wall, a musical celebration |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/06/02/arts/extraordinary-animals-an-extraneous-wall-musical-celebration/ |access-date=6 July 2022 |work=The Boston Globe |date=2 June 2022}}</ref>
== References == {{Reflist}}
== External links ==
* [https://www.newyorker.com/video/watch/the-new-yorker-documentary-american-scar-the-environmental-tragedy-of-the-border-wall Watch ''American Scar''] at ''The New Yorker''{{Authority control}}
Category:2021 short documentary films Category:2021 films Category:Mexico–United States border wall Category:Border barriers Category:Works originally published in The New Yorker Category:American short documentary films