Social Issues in Film Series Presents “Cartel Land” Nov. 16

Valdosta State University’s 2016-2017 Social Issues in Film Series will present “Cartel Land” at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 16, in Nevins Hall Room 1061. Admission to the screening is free of charge and open to all students, faculty, staff, retirees, alumni, and friends of the university.

VALDOSTA — Valdosta State University’s 2016-2017 Social Issues in Film Series will present “Cartel Land” at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 16, in Nevins Hall Room 1061. Admission to the screening is free of charge and open to all students, faculty, staff, retirees, alumni, and friends of the university.
 
“Cartel Land” follows two vigilante groups as they fight to protect Mexico and the United States from the Mexican drug cartel. The film is presented by The Orchard, a global distributor of independent music and films and was written, directed, and produced by Matthew Heineman.
 
According to an online film synopsis, “‘Cartel Land’ is a chilling, visceral meditation on the breakdown of order and the blurry line between good and evil. The cartel each vie to bring their own brand of justice to a society where institutions have failed.”
 
“So much of the film is about what motivates men and women to rise up in arms.” Heineman is quoted as saying in an interview with Documentary magazine. “At the heart of ‘Cartel Land’ are the leaders of these two vigilante groups: Tim ‘Nailer’ Foley, an American veteran, the head of a small paramilitary group called Arizona Border Recon, whose goal is to stop Mexico’s drug wars from seeping across our border; and Dr. Jose Mireles, a small-town physician known as ‘El Doctor,’ who leads the Autodefensas, a citizen uprising against the violent Knights Templar drug cartel that has wreaked havoc on the Michoacán region for years. They are both 55. They both believe that their respective governments have failed them, and they both have ‘taken the law into their own hands’ to fight for what they believe in.”
 
“Cartel Land” premiered in theaters in July 2015 and on A&E Network in January. Since its release, the documentary has earned 17 awards and 35 nominations.
 
Dr. Lorna Alvarez-Rivera, Dr. Tom Hochschild, Dr. Anne Price, and Dr. Shelly Yankovsky, faculty members in the Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Criminal Justice, sponsor VSU’s annual Social Issues in Film Series.
 
Contact Dr. Tom Hochschild at trhochschild@valdosta.edu to learn more.

On the Web:
 
http://www.valdosta.edu/colleges/arts-sciences/sacj
http://cartellandmovie.com/