Filmmaker Matthew Heineman examines the state of the ongoing drug problem along the U.S.-Mexican border.Filmmaker Matthew Heineman examines the state of the ongoing drug problem along the U.S.-Mexican border.Filmmaker Matthew Heineman examines the state of the ongoing drug problem along the U.S.-Mexican border.
- Nominated for 1 Oscar
- 19 wins & 38 nominations total
Nicolás Sierra
- Self
- (as as Nicolás Sierra 'El Gordo')
Alfredo Castillo Cervantes
- Self - Mexican political
- (as Alfredo Castillo)
María Imilse Arrué
- Self
- (as María Imilse)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe Autodefensas group shown in the film was created by civilians to stand up against the cartels because the government is overrun with corruption. Individuals speak about how little the Mexican president (Enrique Peña Nieto) is doing. In the film, the Autodefensas is shown celebrating its one year anniversary on February 24, 2014. On that exact same day, TIME Magazine ran an issue with the Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto with the headline "Saving Mexico." Nieto reportedly paid TIME $44,000 for this cover article coincidentally released on the same day as the Autodefensas anniversary.
- Quotes
José Manuel 'El Doctor' Mireles: Get everything you can out of him, and then put him in the ground.
- SoundtracksEn Las Calles
Written by H. Scott Salinas and Jose Cancela
Featured review
Are vigilantes reluctant heroes taking up arms to defend their communities? Or men of violence looking for a cause in which to fight? Can a band of local activists protect the people against a corrupt government? Or is an self-appointed institution always doomed, by its very nature, to be guilty of the same crimes it is founded to eliminate? Where does the greatest threat to a popular movement come from - the personal failings of a charismatic leader who can satisfy, but only for a moment, the people's desire for a saviour, or in the slime-ball sellouts who would replace him? These questions are deftly posed by 'Cartel Land', a documentary about the drug trade that focuses on the odd right-wing Minutemen of southern Arizona, who seem to feel it necessary to patrol the Mexican border for reasons unapparent, and the Atodefensas of central Mexico, a self-defence force fighting the drug cartels out of a self-evident desire for mere survival but which might possibly be just a new cartel in the making. The only certain conclusion from Matthew Heiman's bleak, compelling film is that the war on drugs is a war that can only be lost.
- paul2001sw-1
- Nov 30, 2015
- Permalink
- How long is Cartel Land?Powered by Alexa
Details
Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $704,352
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $15,581
- Jul 5, 2015
- Gross worldwide
- $1,145,923
- Runtime1 hour 40 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1
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