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Cartel Land

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Cartel Land
Theatrical release poster
Directed byMatthew Heineman
Produced by
Cinematography
  • Matthew Heineman
  • Matt Porwoll
Edited by
  • Matthew Hamachek
  • Matthew Heineman
  • Bradley J. Ross
  • Pax Wassermann
Music by
Production
companies
Distributed byThe Orchard
Release dates
  • January 23, 2015 (2015-01-23) (Sundance)
  • July 3, 2015 (2015-07-03) (United States/Mexico)
Running time
100 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States
Languages
  • English
  • Spanish
Box office$792,194[2]

Cartel Land is a 2015 American documentary film directed by Matthew Heineman about the Mexican Drug War, especially vigilante groups fighting Mexican drug cartels. The film focuses on Tim "Nailer" Foley, the leader of Arizona Border Recon, and Dr. José Mireles, a Michoacán-based physician who leads the Autodefensas. The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 2016.[3]

Synopsis

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The film focuses on two vigilante groups who fight drug cartels from different sides of the United States–Mexico border.

In Mexico, the film focuses on José Manuel Mireles Valverde, known locally as "El Doctor". Mireles becomes fed up with the local Knights Templar Cartel. He gathers a group of citizens from the state of Michoacán and leads an uprising, driving the cartel out of the region.

In the US, the film follows an American veteran named Tim "Nailer" Foley, who is forming a small paramilitary group called the Arizona Border Recon. His goal is to stop the same Mexican cartel from conducting business in the US.

Production

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Heineman got the idea for the film after reading about Arizona Border Recon in an article in Rolling Stone magazine, and then his father sent him a Wall Street Journal article about José Manuel Mireles and the Autodefensas.[4][5] "The minute I read that article, I knew I wanted to create a parallel story of vigilantes on both sides of the border. I wanted to know what happens when government institutions fail and citizens feel like they have to take the law into their own hands."[5]

The film was shot in Michoacán, southwest Mexico and in Arizona.[6] Heineman was inspired by The Square in the making of the film.[7]

Reception

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Cartel Land received very positive reviews from critics. Review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reports an 90% rating based on 99 reviews, and an average rating of 7.60/10. The site's consensus states: "Raw, brutal, and bitter, Cartel Land offers a ground-level look at vigilante efforts to thwart organized crime at the Mexican–American border."[8] On Metacritic, the film has a 76 out of 100 rating based on 25 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[9] Cartel Land appeared on over twenty critics' lists for best documentary and best film of 2015. It was listed as the #1 documentary of 2015 by Indiewire's The Playlist and by Paste Magazine, which also named Heineman as the best new filmmaker of the year.[10][11][12] On December 1, the film was selected as one of 15 shortlisted for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.[13]

Heineman won the Best Director Award and Special Jury Award for Cinematography for the film in the U.S. Documentary Competition at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival, where the documentary premiered.[14] He was presented the award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary by the Directors Guild of America,[15] as well as the 2015 Courage Under Fire Award for the film by the International Documentary Association.[16] The film was also nominated for Best Documentary at the 69th British Academy Film Awards[17] and for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature at the 88th Academy Awards.[3] The film received the 2015 Documentary Film Award from the George Polk Awards in Journalism.[18]

On February 12, 2015, Orchard Films acquired the rights to the film.[19] Cartel Land was released theatrically in the summer of 2015 and aired on A&E on January 4, 2016.[20]

Awards and nominations

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Award Category Recipients and nominees Result
Academy Awards[21] Best Documentary Feature Matthew Heineman and Tom Yellin Nominated
British Academy Film Awards[22] Best Documentary Cartel Land Nominated
Amsterdam International Documentary Film Festival Audience Award Cartel Land Nominated
Ashland Independent Film Festival Best Documentary Cartel Land Won
Austin Film Critics Association Best Documentary Cartel Land Nominated
Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards Best Documentary Feature Cartel Land Nominated
Champs-Élysées Film Festival Best American Feature Film Cartel Land Nominated
Chicago Film Critics Association Awards Best Documentary Cartel Land Nominated
Cinema Eye Honors Awards Outstanding Achievement in Direction Matthew Heineman Nominated
Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Score Jackson Greenberg and H. Scott Salinas Nominated
Outstanding Achievement in Production Cartel Land Nominated
Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography Matthew Heineman and Matt Porwoll Won
Outstanding Achievement in Nonfiction Feature Film Cartel Land Nominated
Creative Arts Emmy Awards Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking Cartel Land Won
Outstanding Sound Editing for Nonfiction Programming (Single or Multi-Camera) Cartel Land Won
Outstanding Cinematography for Nonfiction Programming Matthew Heineman and Matt Porwoll Won
Outstanding Directing for Nonfiction Programming Matthew Heineman Nominated
Outstanding Picture Editing for Nonfiction Programming Matthew Hamachek, Matthew Heineman, Bradley J. Ross, and Pax Wassermann Nominated
Dallas International Film Festival Best Feature Documentary Award Cartel Land Nominated
Directors Guild of America Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary Matthew Heineman Won
Florida Film Critics Circle Awards Best Documentary Cartel Land Nominated
George Polk Awards Documentary Film of 2015 Cartel Land Won
Gotham Awards Best Documentary Cartel Land Nominated
Hamburg Film Festival Political Film Award Cartel Land Nominated
Houston Film Critics Society Awards Best Documentary Feature Cartel Land Nominated
Indiewire Critics' Poll Best Documentary Cartel Land Nominated
International Documentary Association Courage Under Fire Award Matthew Heineman Won
Italia Film Festival Best Documentary Cartel Land Won
Little Rock Film Festival Best Documentary Cartel Land Nominated
Milwaukee Film Festival Best Film Cartel Land Nominated
Moscow International Film Festival Best Documentary Film Cartel Land Won
New Hampshire Film Festival Best Documentary Film Cartel Land Won
Online Film Critics Society Awards Best Documentary Cartel Land Nominated
Phoenix Critics Circle Best Documentary Film Cartel Land Nominated
Reykjavik International Film Festival Audience Award Cartel Land Won
San Diego Film Critics Society Awards Best Documentary Cartel Land Won
Satellite Awards Best Motion Picture, Documentary Cartel Land Nominated
Seattle Film Critics Awards Best Documentary Cartel Land Nominated
Sheffield International Documentary Festival Tim Hetherington Award Cartel Land Won
Grand Jury Award Cartel Land Nominated
St. Louis Film Critics Association Best Documentary Film Cartel Land Nominated
Stockholm Film Festival Best Documentary Cartel Land Nominated
Sundance Film Festival Special Jury Cinematography Award Matthew Heineman and Matt Porwoll Won
Directing Award Matthew Heineman Won
Vancouver Film Critics Circle Best Documentary Cartel Land Nominated
Washington DC Area Film Critics Association Awards Best Documentary Cartel Land Nominated

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "CARTEL LAND (15)". British Board of Film Classification. August 10, 2015. Retrieved August 11, 2015.
  2. ^ "Cartel Land (2015)". Box Office Mojo. Internet Movie Database. Retrieved July 27, 2015.
  3. ^ a b "Oscars 2016 Nominations: Complete List of Nominees". Eonline. January 14, 2016. Retrieved January 14, 2016.
  4. ^ Koo, Ryan (February 4, 2015). "Meth Labs, Machine Guns, and Bulletproof Vests: Matthew Heineman on Filming Sundance Winner 'Cartel Land'". No Film School. Retrieved February 12, 2015.
  5. ^ a b The Missing Story of the Drug War | The New Yorker
  6. ^ "Drug Resistance". The Economist. Retrieved August 20, 2015.
  7. ^ Jaremko-Greenwold, Anya (January 29, 2015). "Meet the 2015 Sundance Filmmakers #62: Matthew Heineman Braves Mexican Drug Cartels In 'Cartel Land'". Indiewire. Retrieved February 12, 2015.
  8. ^ "Cartel Land". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. Retrieved July 27, 2015.
  9. ^ "Cartel Land". Metacritic.
  10. ^ Staff, The Playlist. "The 20 Best Documentaries Of 2015". The Playlist. Retrieved January 22, 2016.
  11. ^ "The 20 Best Documentaries of 2015". pastemagazine.com. December 10, 2015. Retrieved January 22, 2016.
  12. ^ "The 20 Best New Filmmakers of 2015". pastemagazine.com. December 17, 2015. Retrieved January 22, 2016.
  13. ^ "15 Documentary Features Advance in 2015 Oscar Race". December 1, 2015. Retrieved December 16, 2015.
  14. ^ "Award Winners". www.sundance.org. Archived from the original on October 27, 2017. Retrieved January 22, 2016.
  15. ^ "'The Revenant' Director Alejandro G. Inarritu Wins DGA Movie Award". February 7, 2016.
  16. ^ "31st Annual IDA Awards". International Documentary Association. April 2015. Retrieved January 22, 2016.
  17. ^ "Bafta Film Awards 2016: Nominations". BBC News. January 8, 2016. Retrieved January 8, 2016.
  18. ^ "'Cartel Land' Wins George Polk Award for Documentary Film". The Hollywood Reporter. February 16, 2016.
  19. ^ Siegel, Tatiana (February 12, 2015). "Sundance: The Orchard Nabs North American Rights to 'Cartel Land' (Exclusive)". Retrieved February 13, 2015.
  20. ^ "A&E IndieFilms - Cartel Land - More Info". aetv. Retrieved January 22, 2016.
  21. ^ Los Angeles, Times Staff (January 14, 2016). "Oscars 2016: Complete list of nominees". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved January 14, 2016.
  22. ^ "Film in 2016 | BAFTA Awards". awards.bafta.org. Retrieved January 22, 2016.
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