I CROSSED THE DESERT
WITH A GUN IN HAND​​​
​ by Laurence Garret​​​
Documentary | 78 min | 2026 | France​
At 18, Daniel Torres, an undocumented Mexican American, enlisted in the US Marine Corps. A veteran of the war in Iraq, he was later arrested and deported to Mexico.
After winning a lawsuit against the US administration, he is now trying to help those who, like him, were banished from a country for which they put their lives on the line.
Credits
Directed by Laurence Garret
Written by Laurence Garret and Juan-Manuel Sepúlveda
Image: Laurence Garret
Sound: Lucas Denis
Editing: Jeanne Oberson
Music: Niki Demiller
In co-production with Acqua Alta and LesterFilm
Workshops and labs
2023 : Project selected at Co-production Forum IndieLisboa (Lisbonne)
2022 : Project selected at Encuentro de Coproducción, programa de industria del 37° Festival Internacional de Cine en Guadalajara (Mexico)
2021 : Project selected at New Visions Forum : Europe 2021, pitchs forum of Ji.hlava Festival (Czech Republic)
Director's note
I CROSSED THE DESERT WITH A GUN IN HAND follows the trajectory of Daniel Torres. Trained within the most powerful and destructive army in the world, he was later socially downgraded, cast aside, and deemed undesirable by a cynical system. His path is emblematic of the many veterans who have lost almost everything.
The war story Daniel Torres tells anti-heroic. It is a secular narrative that questions war and the patriarchal authoritarianism inherent in the institutions. Daniel Torres does not see himself as a victim. He speaks with an insolent voice, standing in opposition to those who turn their mission into an emblem.
Daniel Torres’s account resonates with a growing number of people caught in the violence of our contemporary world—individuals scorned by a system that openly embraces the dehumanization of human relations.
Laurence Garret
​
After making JOURNEY INTO AMNESIA, a first film edited from Super 8 family archives, Laurence Garret took part in the 2008 Lussas Documentary Film Forum (FR) with LES CHEVEUX COUPES, also selected at Premiers Plans – Festival (Angers, France).
In 2012, she traveled to Mexico for the documentary essay EN NINGÚN LUGAR, DON LUIS BUÑUEL, featuring Denis Lavant and Jean-Claude Carrière. The film was aired on France 3 Corse and was included in the Images de la Culture/CNC catalogue.
In 2018, she directed POR LA LIBERTAD, a portrait of the Mexican filmmaker Carlos Reygadas, for the Cinéastes De Notre Temps collection, presented at the IFF Rotterdam and BAFICI (ARG) among others, and which aired on Ciné+.
Committed to film education since 2010, Laurence Garret leads workshops in schools for the non-profit organization Le Cinéma, cent ans de jeunesse. A member of the documentary filmmakers’ association Addoc since 2015, she also takes part in the French Observatory for Creative Freedom.
POR LA LIBERTAD
Doc, 2017, 85 min, France/Mexico
IFF Rotterdam, 2017
BAFICI, 2017
Geneva IFF, 2017
Black Canvas Contemporary FF, 2018
Broadcast : Ciné+
EN NINGÚN LUGAR, DON LUIS BUÑUEL
Exp doc, 2014, 55 min, France
Atlantida Film Fest, 2014
Different 7!/L'autre cinéma espagnol, 2014
Fonds Images de la culture/CNC
Broadcast : France 3 Corse
​
LES CHEVEUX COUPÉS
Exp fiction, 2008, W&B, 16 mm, 14 min, France
Jury's prize at Festival du film court de Grenoble, 2008
Premiers Plans de Angers/Section Figures Libres, 2009
International Festival of Young Directors of Saint-Jean-de-Luz, 2009
Etats généraux du film documentaire of Lussas, 2008
L'OMBRE ET LA MAIN
Doc, 2017, 52 min, France
Broadcast : Histoire, TLM
​
LE TEMPS RETENU
Doc, 2005, 70 min, France
Broadcast : France 3 Rhône-Alpes
​
JOURNEY TO AMNESIA
Exp Fiction, 2003, Super8, 10 min, France
​
