For the past several years the citizens of Poleo, a tiny community near the border of El Paso, Texas and Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, have been in the center of a legal, physical, and sometimes violent battle between developers who claim to own their land and the institutions which claim the land belongs to the federal government. In 2007, filmmaker Leon De La Rosa investigated, and pieced together interviews with residents and legal experts, newspaper stories, and homemade footage to present this explanation of the issues, breaking down complex land ownership issues in a clear and deeply moving way. Poleo Speaking is presented here in its entirety, at 56 minutes and 720x480 resolution.
Poleo Speaking: 350 megabytes, 56 minutes
If the movie fails to run, try right-clicking on the above link to save it on your hard drive, or download a smaller version of the film at The Internet Archive
León De la Rosa is Gabriela's husband, Laura & Gustavo's son, Ardilla and Alejo's brother, a videomaker, a We3Bean, and a faculty member at the Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez. Check out his Spanish-language blog. You can also learn more about Poleo at alertalomasdelpoleo.blogspot.com.
This movie is in the .mpg format, which should work with most recent computers, but will require a high-speed connection.