PARK CITY, UT — Director/cameraman Matthew Heineman recently produced the character-driven documentary Cartel Land, which follows leaders on either side of the Mexican border who fight as vigilantes against the vicious Mexican drug cartels. Heineman had unprecedented access, allowing him to shoot a provocative film that asks deep questions about the breakdown of order and whether citizens should fight violence with violence.
Cartel Land opened at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival and was quickly picked up by The Orchard for US distribution. The film will debut in New York on July 3rd and showings will expand to additional territories in the following weeks.
Heineman shot the bulk of the film using the Canon Cinema EOS C300. In this “Meet the Artist” video, you can see footage from the feature and commentary from the filmmaker.
In addition to Heineman, footage was captured by Matt Porwoll. Heineman, Matthew Hamacek, Bradley J. Ross and Rax Wassermann edited the project. H. Scott Salinas and Jackson Greenberg provided original music. The film was co-produced by Myles Estey and produced by Tom Yellin.