Overview

Literally translated from the Mandarin Zou Xian, Walk the Line chronicles the perilous journey across the Darién Gap, the jungle corridor between Colombia and Panama that has become a route for asylum seekers heading to the United States. Amid China’s Zero-COVID aftermath, economic decline, human rights concerns, and growing uncertainty, Chinese migrants have become one of the fastest-growing groups arriving at the U.S. southern border. Filmed over eight months across multiple countries, the documentary follows several migrants: Ivan and Lee, a same-sex couple who concealed their identities until reaching the U.S. and hope their story inspires China’s LGBTQ+ community; Cindy, the only woman willing to appear on camera, who endures severe hardship in the jungle and detention at the border; and Mr. Yu, who lived in a van in Beijing to escape lockdowns before undertaking the journey, later rebuilding his life in Los Angeles.

1. Vivian Lee

   Director