“A Thousand Cuts” is a powerful portrait of an indomitable journalist and an impassioned call to arms. Described by director Ramona S. Diaz as a film about “the erosion of democracy, and one woman’s story to hold power to account,” the doc examines social media disinformation campaigns and the current crackdown on the news media in the Philippines by President Rodrigo Duterte. The documentary spotlights one of the politician’s top targets, journalist and TIME Magazine’s Person of the Year Maria Ressa.
As founder and chief executive of the independent news site Rappler, Ressa tries to hold Duterte and his government accountable for their violent war on drugs and its escalating body count.
It’s terrifying to imagine what Duterte and his office say and do behind closed doors, because even when the cameras are rolling, they don’t hesitate to threaten and intimidate citizens. “Do not do drugs — because I will kill you,” Duterte warns. And he’s not being hyperbolic. People are getting killed. Officially, about 4,500 individuals have been gunned down by police, but human rights activists suggest a more accurate estimate is 20,000.
Duterte proudly identifies violence as his “strength,” and explains, “Your concern is human rights. Mine is human lives.” He claims that he’s protecting the general public from drug-related crime, but the doc suggests that “the war on drugs became the war on the poor,” and it’s only low-level drug dealers who are being targeted. The narrative of the government, we’re told, is that these casualties “fought back.” But the government seems to positively revel in extrajudicial murders — and issuing threats against journalists who are fighting to protect human rights.
“A Thousand Cuts” shows what happens when Ressa and her colleagues try to call the government out for its war on drugs and role in circulating false information. “You are a fake news outlet,” Duterte tells a Rappler reporter at a press conference. “You will be allowed to criticize us, but you’ll go to jail for your crimes.” Ressa is arrested. She also receives an average of 90 hate messages per hour, including rape and death threats. Still, she persists. She refuses to be silenced, despite the very real risk of being jailed or even murdered. She is willing to die to help protect freedom of the press and democracy.
Diaz told us she hopes “A Thousand Cuts” helps viewers realize “that fundamental rights we take for granted can be taken away without much resistance — with no drama at all, if we’re not vigilant.”
“A Thousand Cuts” is now screening via virtual cinemas.
