Death by a Thousand Cuts

Name: Death by a Thousand Cuts
Director: Juan Mejia Botero,Jake Kheel
Released: 2016

Juan Mejia Botero Jake Kheel 2016

In DEATH BY A THOUSAND CUTS, Eligio Eloy Vargas, alias Melaneo, a Dominican Park Ranger in the Sierra de Bahoruco National Park was found brutally murdered by machete. At the time, he was believed to have been on patrol investigating an illegal charcoal production site often run by Haitians coming across the border into protected Dominican forests. This murder becomes the metaphor for the larger story of increasing tension between Haiti and the Dominican Republic over illicit charcoal exploitation and mass deforestation.

Add to Playlist

Add Bookmark

Bookmark List

Play Trailer

Running Time:

73 min.

Spoken Languages:

Spanish

Subtitles:

English

Directors:

Juan Mejia Botero Jake Kheel

Producers:

Jake Kheel, Ben Selkow

Cinematographers:

Juan Carlos Castañeda

Editors:

Adriana Pacheco

Production Companies:

Tarasios Productions

Conflicts

Crime

Human Rights

Investigative Journalism

Mystery

War

Press

"Beautifully filmed, sensitively handled… it tells a story being played out across the globe"

Julia Alvarez
Hollywood Soapbox

Death by a Thousand Cuts is a new and visceral documentary about the violent struggles along the border of the Dominican Republic and Haiti...Some of the underlying issues in the film should feel familiar to the peoples of the world. Issues surrounding borders, security, jobs and poverty are universal.

John Soltes
Vice Versa Magazine

Como en muchos conflictos globales por los recursos naturales, la lucha por la supervivencia produce chivos expiatorios, xenofobia y enfrentamientos entre las comunidades, en este caso marcados por las políticas migratorias aprobadas por la República Dominicana en los últimos años. Estos enfrentamientos se han convertidos en un emblema de la lucha por los recursos a nivel nacional y global, hechos, que cuándo se llevan a escenarios extremos, pueden producir el ciclo persistente de un conflicto étnico-civil y violencia a nivel internacional.

Festival Participation

Seattle International Film Festival - 2016
Grand Jury Prize
Doc NYC - 2016
Audience Award Winner
hotdocs - 2016
Official Selection

Additional Materials

Distribution Company

Back to Film Summary

This Week’s Featured Films

An investigative journalist uncovers the money, influence, and alarming rationale behind covert efforts to control the most vital resource on the planet in the latest exposé from filmmaker Gabriela Cowperthwaite (Blackfish)
The road to eliminating poverty begins with her
Israel's military service is questioned through the experiences of young Israelis struggling with enlistment pressures. Innocence uncovers the personal cost of conforming, with lost lives and haunting diaries illustrating the impact of military duty on young souls.
Fresh from their Nobel Prize win, mRNA pioneers race against time to develop new cures for cancer, HIV, and other deadly diseases, in this gripping documentary.
How did we come to this moment, where free speech issues have never felt more complicated and urgent, and where the nation is wondering a new: what price are we willing to pay for free speech?
Let us tell you a story about the boundary pushers who shape souls and give children strange dreams. The stars of STORY & PICTURES BY are picture book creators changing the narrative for the next generation, even when their own lives are not fairytales.
After speaking out on his torture, Bahraini footballer Hakeem al-Araibi faces arrest on his honeymoon, igniting a campaign to save him from extradition. The story follows his rescue led by Australian activists, pitting justice against political and royal pressures.
A political thriller that that goes inside the U.S. fundamentalist Evangelicals, revealing their power and influence on U.S. foreign policy, as they aim to fulfill the Armageddon prophecy and ultimately destroy our civilization
A one-hour documentary that delves into the science of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and the birth of a new movement to treat and prevent toxic stress