Interview:
Ben Masters,
director,
"Borderlands Jaguar"
Few endangered species are as elusive on this side of the U.S.-Mexico border than the jaguar. All but extinct in the United States, with sightings very rare in the Southwest border states, the jaguar does enjoy a healthier future in Mexico as its population grows through conservation efforts. With their documentary Borderlands Jaguar, Austin-based director Ben Masters and cinematographer Austin Alvarado highlight how conservationists in Mexico have helped restore their country’s jaguar population while examining potential ways the jaguar can make a safe return to the United States. In the process, Masters and Alvarado travel to the Northern Jaguar Reserve in Sonora, Mexico, to set up camera traps and capture for the first time in high-res film the large cat in the wild. Borderlands Jaguar will screen at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 15 at the AFS Cinema with Ben Masters in attendance. Borderlands Jaguar is also available to stream on Apple TV. Austin-based Ben Masters previously directed the 2025 conservation documentary The American Southwest, the 2022 Texas nature documentary Deep in the Heart, the 2019 border wildlife documentary The River and the Wall, produced the 2017 documentary Charged: The Eduardo Garcia Story, and appeared in the 2015 documentary Unbranded. He is currently working on Hope for the Guadalupe, a documentary about the restoration of the Guadalupe River, and a sequel to Deep in the Heart.
Aired: Jan. 14. 2026. Web sites: https://www.finandfurfilms.com/ https://www.austinfilm.org/screening/borderlands-jaguar-with-ben-masters/ https://tv.apple.com/ |
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