Synopsis
The Nightcrawlers provides unprecedented access to the the Manila Nightcrawlers as they look to expose the true cost of Filipino President Duterte’s violent war on drugs.
The Nightcrawlers
Studios
Country
Language
Alternative Titles
A drogháború fotósai, Guerra às Drogas: A Violência nas Filipinas, Reporters de l'ombre, The Nightcrawlers - Drogenkrieg der Philippinen, Manila Nightcrawlers
Genre
Releases by Date
Premiere
-
USA
Releases by Country
USA
01 Oct 2019
- Premiere
Popular reviews
More-
There is white sand on the shores of Manila Bay, crushed dolomite shipped at great cost from the South. And we've been told by the government that this expensive adornment is necessary for the mental health of Manileños, the glittering sand meant to soothe our tired psyches as we go about our days in this dark, sad city.
And we do need help. You can see it in this documentary; the existential struggle of living under the Duterte administration. We follow the photojournalists who suddenly became war photographers, guys who already knew that their job entailed witnessing grisly things still being shocked awake by the scale of the violence enacted by the government. They've trained to be passive observers, to…
-
Before the year, and the decade, comes to a close, I would just like to remind every Duterte and drug war enabler out there that you've killed over 20,000 human beings so far, almost a hundred of those were children. Happy New Year! And cheers to more inspirational and Bible quotes from y'all this coming year! To more killings! 🥂🥂🥂
Note: If it wasn't clear enough, I was being sarcastic.
-
Upon his election as President of the Philippines, strongman Duterte declared a "war on drugs" which led to up to 20,000 lawless killings of supposed traffickers and users by policemen and vigilante mobs. The eponymous "Nightcrawlers" are a group of photo-journalists that banded together to expose this vicious campaign. This mostly caught-on-the-fly documentary short follows a few brave journalists around Manila as they rush to the scenes of the killings. But it also spends time interviewing masked vigilantes and their captain who are taking advantage of the chaos to murder indiscriminately. Missing are any government figures justifying the policy, and documented evidence of the realities of the Philippine drug trade. The film plays more like an almost surreal TV episode of Cops than a fully informative exposé. Still, this is strong film making about a scandal that needs to be exposed.
-
-
When people voted for Duterte, the Philippines lost its moral compass. And the war on drugs is chipping away our humanity slowly and steadily.
We really have to find our soul once again, we really need our humanity back.
-
I remember reading what Patricia Evangelista penned as a protest against the Anti-Terror Bill. Obviously, it has not done anything to suppress the passage of the same law. I do not expect this documentary to do anything, nor should it spark protests. Raffy Lerma was right: change is a collective effort and a single piece of media cannot alter such status quo.
We are now less than a year away from this regime's end. Funny how one scene from this includes a man defending Duterte's capabilities, citing he still has time (this was made around 2019). Now he merely has months, yet, nothing has happened. I'd rather bottle everything up and haphazardly condense my sentiments into a few words: I hope we learn from this, I hope we have learned enough.
-
So important. So sad. Heartbreaking. And infuriating. And scary. Much respect and gratitude for the journalists. Also love a democracy now! cameo. Wish this was longer but it’s very powerful.
-
To be able to immobilize a person you fire a shot, but if you finish a whole clip... What are your true intentions?
Devastating documentary on the Philippine president's "war on drugs." Thousands killed, no one held accountable, and the president literally saying fuck you to the country's journalists. How do you fight for truth in a lawless land?
I'm going through the Oscars 2020 Shortlist again and this is the most compelling film in Documentary Short category. Watch here.
-
-
-
-
This is definitely a doc that *feels* important and urgent. It's heartbreaking, but it's important work that these Nightcrawlers are doing.