Film Forum

In her first documentary feature, Argentine auteur Lucrecia Martel (ZAMA; FF Premieres THE HEADLESS WOMAN and LA CIÉNAGA) investigates the 2009 murder of Indigenous activist Javier Chocobar—shot while defending his community’s land from capitalist raiders—and the systematic dispossession of the Chuschagasta people he represented. Martel alternates between footage of this controversial, long-delayed (9 years after the incident) trial, which hinges on a shaky cell-phone video; testimonials from Chuschagasta community members; and aerial footage of the stunning Tucumán province Chocobar fought to defend. 

Presented with support from The Robert E. Appel Fund for Spanish and Portuguese Language Films and The Richard Brick, Geri Ashur, and Sara Bershtel Fund for Social Justice Documentaries

2025     122 MIN.    ARGENTINA / USA / MEXICO / FRANCE / NETHERLANDS / DENMARK          
IN SPANISH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES     STRAND RELEASING

Trailer

Reviews

 “A slow-burning, increasingly incensed unraveling of a horrific murder case underpinned by colonialist privilege and prejudice... with steadily rising emotional impact and a long view of Latin American history that transcends any true-crime trappings.”
– Guy Lodge, Variety 

“A searing and detailed chronicle of murder, bigotry and robbery on a massive scale... At once the anatomy of a killing and its subsequent trial, and a comprehensive portrait of an indigenous community that has suffered from centuries of injustice. It’s also—and this is rare for what’s essentially a true crime doc—filled with flashes of visual splendor, as the camera rises to a bird’s eye view to reveal the scope of the land in question, reminding us that what’s at stake is not only an entire people’s culture, but nature itself.”
– Jordan Mintzer, The Hollywood Reporter

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