De l’autre côté focuses on the plight of Mexican migrants seeking to cross the border into the United States, who were deported against their will by American authorities to a mountainous desert region in Arizona. Touched by their struggles and their personal stories, Akerman collected the testimonies of the Mexican migrants before traveling to the Sonoran Desert and crossing to ‘the other side’ where she continued her interviews with border patrol officers and the local community.

Chantal Akerman (b. 1950, Brussels; d. 2015, Paris) is considered one of the most prominent figures of modern cinema. Akerman has produced more than forty works, making dramas, installations and a musical as well as devoting some of her work to documentaries.