Editing El Norte (film) (section)

==Production==
When Nava and his production crew were, more or less, kicked out of Mexico during the film shoot, he had to re-create a Mexican village in California. Nava said "We were filming in Mexico during the end of the López Portillo presidency, one of the last of the old-fashioned caciques to rule Mexico. One day, men with machine guns took over the set. I had guns pointed at my head. We were forced to shut down production, bribe our way out of the country, fight to get our costumes back, and start shooting again in California. Ironically, in the United States our extras were real Mayan refugees. They were the people the movie was about."<ref>Santiago, Soledad. ''The Santa Fe New Mexican'', "Bordering on brilliance", December 2, 2006.</ref>

Nava tells the story that, at one point, Mexican police kidnapped their accountant and held him for ransom, and at the same time, his parents had to pose as tourists in order to smuggle exposed film out of the country in their suitcases.<ref>Ebert, Roger. ''Chicago Sun-Times'', "Confessions (with recipes) of the Vegetarian Epicure", July 24, 2006.</ref>

===Filming locations===
The film was shot in Mexico and California. In Mexico, the locations were [[Chiapas]], [[Morelos]], [[Mexican Federal District|México, D.F.]], and Tijuana. In California, the locations were San Diego and Los Angeles.