Borderland Beat Posted by DD republished in part from Mexico Daily Review
I almost cried when I saw this. I know it will not get him out of prison, but to know he is not being forgotten and that his name and story is being kept in the public eye is heartwarming. This kind of exposure keeps the pressure on the Mexican government to release him from the trumped up charges for which he was imprisoned. With Castillo gone from Michoacan, I believe he will be released in the not too distant future. I hope his health will permit him to be the leader and hero that the people of Mexico so desperately need.
YEAR 2015
SECTION U.S. Documentary Competition
COUNTRY U.S.A./Mexico
RUN TIME 100 min
LANGUAGE English/Spanish
SUBTITLES Yes with English subtitles
When your government cannot provide basic safety from murderous organized criminals, is it acceptable to take the law into your own hands to protect your family, your land, and your country? That is the question at the heart of Cartel Land, a powerfully visceral journey of two modern-day vigilante movements.
In the Mexican state of Michoacán, Dr. Jose Mireles, a small-town physician known as "El Doctor," shepherds a citizen uprising against the Knights Templar, the violent drug cartel that has wreaked havoc on the region for years. Meanwhile, in Arizona's Altar Valley—a narrow, 52-mile-long desert corridor known as Cocaine Alley—Tim "Nailer" Foley, an American veteran, heads a small paramilitary group called Arizona Border Recon, whose goal is to halt Mexico’s drug wars from seeping across our border.
Intrepid filmmaker Matthew Heineman (Escape Fire) embeds himself in the heart of darkness as Nailer, El Doctor, and the cartel each vie to bring their own brand of justice to a society where institutions have failed. Brilliant, dangerous, and provocative, Cartel Land is a chilling meditation on the breakdown of order and the borderline where life trumps law.
There is more about the documentary and other video clips on the Face Book page "Cartel Land".
Chivis:
Here is the film maker speaking about the film in this trailer
This is a big deal, and Mexican corrupt officials that are used to living off of the corruption will go down! Sundance film festival Movies carry a lot of weight!!!! Dr Mireles!!! The past is in the past now will be your time for redemption!!!!
ReplyDeleteu wrong money talks and BS walks
DeleteLOL this is great but it won't change the opinions of the citizens of Michoacan who think the Templars and Castillo and EPN are looking out for them. You can't manipulate Michoacanians with good film making. You have to offer them money and quick high-paying jobs for their husbands like the Templars do.
ReplyDeleteCan we all have a movie night at borderland beat where we watch the movie??? Ill bing the pizza.
DeleteWell....there is a scene in the movie that can be twisted enough to put Dr M away for the remainder of his life. I saw Heineman speak at Sundance and honestly the audience was taken aback that he added such an open ended scene in the movie that could be construed as ordering a murder. Even though the outcome was not known.
ReplyDeleteHeineman stuttered and scratched his beard lowering his voice saying "yeah well you know, well we struggled over that one, but really we don't know it anyone was killed."
Someone said, "well he is said to be in prison on false charges to stop the vigilante movement, if they can do that without evidence, what will they do with him on film saying "put him in the ground"?
He just said again, no one is known to die. he simply did not understand the dynamics.
If he would have filmed Mireles ordering a kill and then kill ensued that would be different. It seems gratuitous and dangerously so. He also vacillates between using the term vigilante vs autodefensas. He doesn't appear to speak Spanish, or he has the worse accent using simple words I have ever heard.
He has not visited Mireles in prison and the film was over 4 months just before and a bit after the plane crash.
I agree with you. I highly doubt this guy is anywhere on the ball with this. I just don't understand one part of your comment "the film was over 4 months just before and a bit after the plane crash." I don't get that
Deleteshould have said "the film was filmed over a 4 month period, spanning the end of 2013 into early 2014"
DeleteLol I agree...this is what I got out of this video.
Delete"I read an article in new York, decided to start a project about vigilantes in Texas, such heroes shooting at undocumented immigrants. ..oh wait, later I read yet another article this time I was in a taxi on my way to Grimaldis in it I read about some vigilantes in Mexico, I thought to myself, controversy, drama, and violence. Win win, but like any self respected journalist I will have to be in the field, what the hell. Anderson cooper did it"
How or where can i watch this movie????
ReplyDeleteHe will never be free again.
ReplyDeleteSun Dance Movie Festival ...
ReplyDeleteOn Tuesday, HuffPost Entertainment previewed the Sundance Film Festival's impressive lineup, but we omitted the documentaries because, frankly, there are so many excellent titles that deserve your attention. Films about the Church of Scientology, Tig Notaro, Kurt Cobain, campus rapes and urban fashion could follow in the footsteps of such recent Sundance successes as "The Invisible War," "The Cove," "Man on Wire" and "Super Size Me." Here are the buzziest docs on this year's roster:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/21/sundance-film-festival-2015-documentaries_n_6510998.html
congratulations !
ReplyDeleteGood, better a sundance film than a televisa telenovela, they must be working on a second part...
ReplyDelete--meawhile el hijo de su nieto keeps promoting his re-birth, he is said to have visited michoacan recently, in a public meeting where people ''applauded''; and i believe it, for one torta, and a soda, you applaud and may get a tax break on your next kilo de tortillas, and a nice review to be contracted picking lemon or avocados, or as a free mini-miner, for 20 dollars A WEEK...
5:08 AM
DeleteMillie,so much for the HATED gabachos not caring ey ?
Your wrong !
the filmmakers father sent him the border story and then the story of autodefensas and Michoacán
ReplyDeletehe said he knew the story must be made into a film and went to Michoacan with no preconceived notions. He soon found dr Mireles an honorable man, sincere and loved by the citizens. .
I think making the documentary and seeing Dr. Mireles and the auto-defenses up close and personal had a huge impact on and deeply moved the young Mr. Heineman, the director. In his acceptance speech after receiving the awards he said;
Delete“It’s such an honor to be here. I want to dedicate this award to the victims of the senseless violence that has been perpetuated by the drug wars in Mexico. More than 80,000 people murdered and more than 20,000 people missing, my heart goes out to all of them. This award is for them,”
I respect him for the empathy and honor he showed by saying his "heart goes out to them" and "This award is for them". Now, if he would share some of the money that he will surely make from the film with the 350+ families of the incarcerated self-defense members who were wrongly imprisoned by a corrupt government simply for trying to defend themselves and their families, I would think he is really a super human being.
So why carelessly refer to these movements as "vigilante" movements?
ReplyDeleteTranslate it correctly: These are 'SELF-DEFENSE" groups, not vigilantes.
That's why the RIGHT TO BEAR ARMS in the States needs to be preserved;
it has got nothing to do with hunting, etc.;
The Right to Bear Arms is to have a well organized militia that will be able to defend the country in case that Government fails and falls.
It even states to be able to defend against an oppressive government.
Read the entire definition of the Right to Bear Arms here in the U.S. and it will make sense as to why it's so important, in relationship to what is going on in Mexico.
The first thing that any oppressive government does is to disarm the people.
amen....the filmmaker should have called the movement "self defense" he uses vigilante and autodefensa
DeleteLike Canada?
DeleteThis US government has fucked us already and you motherfuckers are talking about right to bear arms. . .leave that to Mexico where the government is too damn stupid to hide corruption as well as the US of A.
DeleteWhere can i see this film???whats the name of it
ReplyDeleteThe name of it is "Cartel Land".
DeleteI have not been able to find any schedule for showings. If anyone knows please post.
Where can I watch this? Any site online?
ReplyDeleteThe Good Doctor is a hero
ReplyDelete¡Michoacaneros Arriba!
ReplyDeleteThis honorable man sits behind bars while stupid people confuse vigilante (vengance) with autodefenas (defensive protection) Get it through your goddamned head I AM TIRED OF PAYING A PINCHE COYOTE TO SELL MY MANGOS TO JUMEX. Gobernacion has diarrhrea of the mouth. No protection. No accion. Los marinas just shrug their shoulders. We have no fucking law here. And la gente just sits and lets the world in at 2230 and 1430 then they turn the tele off. Where are the mantas? Where are the protests in the zocalo in Morelia? No tiene huevos. People fucking die while their neighbors pretend they do not pay cien pesos semenal to a knock on their door. Morelos, Hidalgo, and los ninos hereos are crying for ypur shame. BASTA YA!
Meanwhile La reina del pacifico just got out of Federal Prison???
ReplyDeleteDon't need Sundance need Guns, and the Doc out of jail. The an't going to do nada, unless the money u make goes to help the Doc. and I don't think that's going to happen
ReplyDelete"Don't need Sundance need Guns, and the Doc out of jail. The an't going to do nada, unless the money u make goes to help the Doc"
DeleteAnd what are you doing super Mexican?Except whining and negativity?
Even when something positive is done..THEY STILL WHINE ABOUT BLAME ...
ReplyDeleteNo wonder no-one wants to get involved in Mexico,why would you?
Nice post
ReplyDelete