Impact Days Catalogue
fifdh
By Santiago Maza

State of Silence

Estado de silencio
Estado de silencio
Impact days 2023 Movie
IMPACT DAYS

The documentary follows four reporters as they risk their lives when pursuing their calling for truth and veracity. Mexican journalists shed light on the pain and fear that their fellow citizens endure to this date after two decades of the so-called war against drugs. By doing this they accept the risk of becoming targets of repression. They are investigators, chroniclers, and victims of the violence unleashed by the narcopolítica system: that dangerous point of fusion between organised crime corporations and local corrupt governments. This intimate portrait recalls with urgency that freedom of the press in Mexico cannot remain under siege.

Section : Impact Days
Country : Mexico, United States
Original language : Spanish
Director
Santiago Maza (Mexico)
Producers
Diego Luna (Mexico)
Abril López Carrillo (Mexico)
La Corriente del Golfo
Completion
February 2024
Impact Statement
State of Silence aims to amplify the importance of independent journalism and freedom of expression in Mexico. The film is a collective call on society to raise global awareness of the daily risks and death threats journalists confront to tell true local stories. The film’s campaign aims to reach international and local audiences to raise awareness, demand better security and work conditions for journalists, and call on the protection of those who guard our freedom of speech amidst the Mexican elections of June 2024.
State of Silence aims to break the silence surrounding journalism in Mexico and is a call on society to demand better conditions for journalists who risk their lives to guarantee our access to press freedom.
Impact Goals
  1. Through collaboration with the journalist community, demand that the security of the press and public policies for protection are part of the next Mexican government’s agenda.
  2. Amplify the work of journalists and strengthen the connection and involvement with readers in the advocacy for better work conditions by inviting audiences to follow independent press in social media and visit our website.
  3. Launch the impact campaign in an international festival in order to urge the international community to stand with freedom of press in Mexico by joining the movement, continuing the conversation and taking the film's issues outside of the theaters.
Impact Strategy
  • Organise private screenings for journalists and NGOs to create a safe space for dialogue.
  • Co-create a collective manifesto highlighting the need for protection and security for the Mexican press.
  • Produce a short video based on the manifesto.
  • Have participants, local independent journalists and Diego Luna as spokespeople in screenings.
  • Invite audiences to join the movement through a contact form.
  • After the elections, follow up with officials appointed to roles relevant to press freedom in Mexico, especially on the Mechanism for the Protection of Journalists.
  • Broaden our networks of foundations, academics, journalists, filmmakers and industry to amplify pressure on the Mexican government.
  • Invite audiences abroad to follow Mexican journalists and repost their pieces.
  • Encourage international media to interview the film's participants.
Contact
Primary contact
Michelle Plascencia (Mexico): michelle@docsociety.org

Organisations
Artículo 19
CPJ – Committee to Protect Journalists – Mexico
Periodistas de a Pie

Funders
Ford Foundation
Luminate

Others
Ambulante
Beak>
La Corriente del Golfo Podcast
Mexican journalists
Public figures: Diego Luna, Gael García Bernal

Organisations
Artículo 19
CPJ – Committee to Protect Journalists – Mexico
Periodistas de a Pie

Funders
Ford Foundation
Luminate

Others
Ambulante
Beak>
La Corriente del Golfo Podcast
Mexican journalists
Public figures: Diego Luna, Gael García Bernal