Deep in the sun-blistered Sonora desert beneath a cicada tree, Arizona border police discover a decomposing male body. Lifting a tattered T-shirt, they expose a tattoo that reads “Dayani Cristal”.

Who is this person? What brought him here? How did he die?
And who—or what—is Dayani Cristal?

Following a team of dedicated staff from the Pima County Morgue in Arizona, director Marc Silver seeks to answer these questions and give this anonymous man an identity. As the forensic investigation unfolds, Mexican actor and activist Gael Garcia Bernal retraces this man’s steps along the migrant trail in Central America. In an effort to understand what it must have felt like to make this final journey, he embeds himself among migrant travelers on their own mission to cross the border. He experiences first-hand the dangers they face and learns of their motivations, hopes and fears. As we travel north, these voices from the other side of the border wall give us a rare insight into the human stories which are so often ignored in the immigration debate.

Who Is Dayani Cristal? tells the story of a migrant who found himself in the deadly stretch of desert known as “the corridor of death” and shows how one life becomes testimony to the tragic results of the U.S. war on immigration. As the real-life drama unfolds we see this John Doe, denied an identity at his point of death, become a living and breathing human being with an important life story.

Winner of the Sundance 2013 Cinematography award and nominated in the World Documentary Competition, “Who is Dayani Cristal?” has been described by The Hollywood Reporter as “A deeply moving doc [which] finds a new way of making the immigration debate personal.”

Cast and Credits

  • Director Marc Silver
  • Screen Writer Mark Monroe
  • Executive Producers Dan Cogan, Lilly Hartley, Jeffrey Tarrant, Jess Search, Teddy Leifer, Marc Silver
  • Producers Lucas Ochoa, Thomas Benski, Gael García Bernal
  • Director of Photography Marc Silver, Pau Esteve Birba
  • Editors Martin Singer, James Smith-Rewse
  • Composer Leonardo Heiblum, Jacobo Lieberman
  • Principal castGael García Bernal
A Pulse films production of a film by
Gael García Bernal and Marc Silver
Who is Dayani Cristal?
starring Gael García Bernal
In association with Britdoc and Film4, Impact Partners, Candescent films, Ford foundation, Diamond docs, Silverlining films, Canana films, Rise films, Mundial
Director of Photography Marc Silver, Pau Esteve Birba edited by Martin Singer, James Smith-Rewse music by Leonardo Heiblum, Jacobo Lieberman
Executive Producers Dan Cogan, Lilly Hartley, Jeffrey Tarrant, Jess Search, Teddy Leifer, Marc Silver line producers Marisa Clifford, Kurban Kassam
written by Mark Monroe produced by Lucas Ochoa, Thomas Benski, Gael García Bernal directed by Marc Silver