The forthcoming documentary "Cartel Land" is coming to theaters with a bit of buzz. The picture picked up Best Cinematography and Best Directing awards in the Documentary category at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, and Oscar winner Kathryn Bigelow has signed on as an executive producer. A new trailer has arrived.
READ MORE: Kathryn Bigelow Moving Ahead With Bowe Berghahl Movie, ‘Triple Frontier’ Delayed
Directed by Matthew Heineman, "Cartel Land" gives viewers a street-level view of the Mexican drug cartels and opposing vigilante groups. Here’s the official synopsis:
With unprecedented access, CARTEL LAND is a riveting, on-the-ground look at the journeys of two modern-day vigilante groups and their shared enemy – the murderous Mexican drug cartels.
In the Mexican state of Michoacán, Dr. Jose Mireles, a small-town physician known as "El Doctor," leads the Autodefensas, a citizen uprising against the violent Knights Templar drug cartel that has wreaked havoc on the region for years. Meanwhile, in Arizona’s Altar Valley – a narrow, 52-mile-long desert corridor known as Cocaine Alley – Tim "Nailer" Foley, an American veteran, heads a small paramilitary group called Arizona Border Recon, whose goal is to stop Mexico’s drug wars from seeping across our border.
Filmmaker Matthew Heineman embeds himself in the heart of darkness as Nailer, El Doctor, and the cartel each vie to bring their own brand of justice to a society where institutions have failed. CARTEL LAND is a chilling, visceral meditation on the breakdown of order and the blurry line between good and evil. It’s a movie we called "a vibrant, electrifying work" and one that documentary fans should see. "Cartel Land" opens on July 3rd in New York City and July 10th in Los Angeles. Watch the trailer below.
