State of Silence
Santiago Maza / MX, 2024 / 80 min.
Four Mexican journalists talk about their work. Their lives are in danger because they expose links between the worlds of crime and politics. But they see no other choice in this country where the right to information is under seige.
Mexico is one of the world’s most dangerous countries for journalists. But courageous reporters continue to do their work regardless; without the press there would be no one revealing the extent to which crime and politics are intermingled. The judicial system hides behind claims of insufficient evidence to prosecute crimes, while journalists are the ones who provide such evidence.
In State of Silence four journalists discuss their work. One of them investigates illegal logging and environmental pollution, while another writes about police violence against migrants attempting to cross the border. The risks are great, and threats are commonplace. Almost 200 reporters have disappeared or been murdered since 2000.
A law was passed under President López Obrador enabling journalists and human rights activists to seek refuge in the US—but doesn’t leaving everything that you love behind you, mean the criminals have won? Some of the journalists return to Mexico because their work is too important. “When a journalist is murdered,” says one of them, “society’s right to be informed dies, too.”
This is part of
Details
Director
Santiago Maza
Production year
2024
Country
MX
Length
80 min.
Language
Spanish
Subtitles
ENG
Format
DCP
Part of
IDFA 2024
The International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) is once again bringing an exciting selection of the world's best documentaries to Eye this year, from November 14 until 24.
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