Documentary

    I watched Cartel land by Matthew Heineman follows two vigilante groups in their respective efforts to fight off the Mexican Drug cartel on both sides of the border. On the Mexican side it follows Jose Manuel Mireles Valverde, known as “El doctor” as he leads his group Los Autodefensas to run out The Mexican cartel in local towns in Michoacan. On the U.S side of the border it follows Tim Folley, an ex-military who leads a small group called the Arizona Border Recon who, like Los Autodefensas, want to stop The Cartel from transporting Drugs on the U.S side.

What specific scene got to you?

    One scene that I distinctly remember was when the film crew and the autodefensas while chasing a presumed cartel member end up getting into a small shootout in the middle of a random street. When they finally get all clear, they get into their truck and start chasing the car that was shooting back at them. When they finally catch up to the car, inside is not only the presumed gunman but also his family, his wife and daughter. Them obviously knowing what is going on are distraught, especially the daughter who is screaming, crying and pleading to the autodefensas person to let his father go or else she's going to kill herself. They go on to take him to a warehouse where its presumed they torture him for the information they want. The girl screaming particularly got to me, because not only do these cartel member have a family, they have people who would kill themselves if something were to happen to them. Although, at the same time they're cartel members who have no real care for other people, in the previous scene he was trying to kill someone. The dichotomy of a father who wants his family to thrive and be out of poverty and a merciless killer for the cartel made me think for a while after I finished that documentary.

What surprised you? Why do you think it caught you off guard?

    I was very surprised that even though both sides of the border want the same thing, that being to stop the cartel, they both have very different approaches. Tim Folley wanting to stop the cartel from bringing drugs and terrorizing the U.S side of the border and El Doctor wanting communities in cartel affected areas to stand up against the cartel.

What feelings stuck with you after film? Did they "pop up" in your life in unexpected ways? When? How? How was that like?

    I was just very pensative about how people are struggling in the place I love and have always had a special place in my heart. My parents are from Mexico, and while my dad left me, I know the state he is from (Michoacan) has heavy cartel/corruption presence. Although not as much with cartel there is heavy corruption in the state my moms' from (Guanajuato)