People risk all kinds of things to make movies — money, reputations, sometimes even their health. But in “The Infiltrators,” it feels as if the crew we see on-screen is putting their lives on the line for a cause they believe in, and that the movie is just a byproduct, as opposed to the principal mission.
In that way, it’s like “The Cove,” the remarkable dolphin-saving doc in which marine-life activists sneaked into a secluded Japanese killing field like soldiers on a special-ops mission. “The Infiltrators” also documents a courageous undercover operation, this one involving Dreamers who turn themselves over to Border Patrol officers in order to assist their fellow undocumented immigrants from inside a federal detention center — except, in this case, directors Cristina Ibarra and Alex Rivera rely on a mix of talking heads and reenactment footage to dramatize a mission for which principal coverage was limited to a few audio recordings.
In that way, it’s like “The Cove,” the remarkable dolphin-saving doc in which marine-life activists sneaked into a secluded Japanese killing field like soldiers on a special-ops mission. “The Infiltrators” also documents a courageous undercover operation, this one involving Dreamers who turn themselves over to Border Patrol officers in order to assist their fellow undocumented immigrants from inside a federal detention center — except, in this case, directors Cristina Ibarra and Alex Rivera rely on a mix of talking heads and reenactment footage to dramatize a mission for which principal coverage was limited to a few audio recordings.
- 5/2/2020
- by Peter Debruge
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: Blumhouse Television has optioned the Sundance award-winning documentary-narrative film, The Infiltrators from Alex Rivera and Cristina Ibarra to adapt as a scripted series. Jenniffer Gomez will write and produce the adaptation. The critically praised film premiered at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival and was honored with The Audience Award: Next and The Next Innovator Prize.
The Infiltrators, a hybrid of real-time documentary footage and dramatic reconstructions, tells the real – and surreal – story of three young undocumented immigrants, Marco Saavedra, Viridiana Martinez and Mohammad Abdollahi, who in 2012 dared to defy the system by embarking on a high-risk mission to infiltrate a secretive for-profit detention center. By intentionally getting detained by the Border Patrol and voluntarily surrendering their freedom, these “Infiltrators” went into detention to uncover cases of abuse, organize behind bars, and help other detainees (and themselves) eventually get free. The story is a jail-break — in reverse.
The Infiltrators, a hybrid of real-time documentary footage and dramatic reconstructions, tells the real – and surreal – story of three young undocumented immigrants, Marco Saavedra, Viridiana Martinez and Mohammad Abdollahi, who in 2012 dared to defy the system by embarking on a high-risk mission to infiltrate a secretive for-profit detention center. By intentionally getting detained by the Border Patrol and voluntarily surrendering their freedom, these “Infiltrators” went into detention to uncover cases of abuse, organize behind bars, and help other detainees (and themselves) eventually get free. The story is a jail-break — in reverse.
- 5/2/2019
- by Denise Petski
- Deadline Film + TV
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