WORK IN PROGRESS

CHILDREN OF THE WAR

USA/ UK, 2007, 81 min., English, Spanish

Director: Alexandre Fuchs
Producer: Alexandre Fuchs, Jonathan Bollier
Script: Jeremy Fourteau
Cinematography: Samantha Belmont
Editing: Taige Jensen
Music: Nathan Matthew David, Daniel Gonzaga
Production Company: Fly Films
Print Source:
Alexandre Fuchs
2 fifth avenue
Suite 11k
New York, NY
T: 646 797 3155
ajfuchs@libertysurf.fr
www.hijosdelaguerra.com

Children of the War

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has named Los Angeles street gang Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) the largest and most violent in the United States. Indeed, it recently classified the fight against MS-13 as one of its top enforcement priorities. Salvadoran Civil War refugees seeking to protect themselves from rival ethnic gangs formed MS-13 in LA during the late 1980s. Since then, MS-13 has become a growing threat throughout 33 states in the nation, and every country in Central America. The institution of stern, increasingly systematic U.S. deportation policies, along with forceful Salvadoran armed repression of the members, has radicalized the group. Instead of reducing the gang's influence, these policies have propelled them into a powerful, aggressive and multiplying force that seems increasingly difficult to control. Children of the War, the feature documentary debut of fine arts photographer Alex Fuchs, is the first film to explore the history of MS-13 and address the causes and circumstances that have fueled this gang's ominous rise to power. Through a series of interviews (with gang members, experts and academics), it sheds light on reasons for gang membership, as well as the complex role of social and government policy in both containing and aggravating gang proliferation.

Alexandre Fuchs was born in 1966. A French-American national, Alex grew up in Paris and moved to the United States in 1984. He graduate with honors from Boston University in 1987 and a Baker Scholar with a Masters from Darmouth College in 1992. He is an independent filmmaker whose experience encompasses development and production on a number of feature films, including Birth by Jonathan Glazer, Ken Park by Larry Clark, The Sun by Aleksandr Sokurov, and the upcoming Lady from Shanghai from Chinese director Wong Kar-wai. An exhibited photographer, Alex’s work has been frequently published in the New York Times, Time Magazine, The Guardian, Liberation, Bild, and The South China Morning Post. He lives in New York and works out of his Greenwich Village studio.

Filmography:

Children of the War (2007), documentary feature debut.

h Village studio.

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