Cartel Land

Inspired by an investigative article in Rolling Stone, this chilling, compelling documentary revolves around recent battles between drug cartels and two vigilante groups along the Arizona/Mexico border. In the Mexican state of Michoacán, Dr. José Manuel Mireles, known as “El Doctor,” leads the Autodefensas—a citizen's militia—against the ruthless Knights Templar cartel that has threatened the region for years. At the same time, in Arizona's 52-mile-long Altar Valley—known as Cocaine Alley—Tim “Nailer” Foley heads up Arizona Border Recon, a small paramilitary group whose goal is to stop Mexico's drug wars from seeping into the United States. “They're terrorizing their own country,” Foley says, “and now they're starting to do it over here.” Intrepid filmmaker Matthew Heineman captures disturbing footage and images (of shootouts, brutal torture, interrogations at gunpoint, and severed heads) in this Oscar nominee for Best Documentary that illustrates how people with good intentions of fighting evil can cross the line when they take the law into their own hands. Recommended. [Note: this is available with public performance rights for $95 for public libraries and $295 for colleges and universities from Ro*co Films Educational, www.rocoeducational.com.] (S. Granger)