This dry but informative no frills film is a good educational tool.
State of Fear: The Truth About Terrorism (2006)
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Reviews Counted: 12
Fresh: 12
Rotten:0
Average Rating: 7.6/10
Theatrical Release:Jan 11, 2006 Limited
Synopsis: "State of Fear" takes place in Peru, yet serves as a cautionary tale for a world engaged in a "global war on terror". It dramatizes the human and societal costs a democracy faces when it embarks on... "State of Fear" takes place in Peru, yet serves as a cautionary tale for a world engaged in a "global war on terror". It dramatizes the human and societal costs a democracy faces when it embarks on a "war" against terror, a "war" potentially without end, all too easily exploited by unscrupulous leaders seeking personal political gain. An unforgettable array of characters takes us down a troubling road peopled by perpetrators and victims, and bystanders who only watched as the horror unfolded. But it is also the story of courageous Peruvians who fought to maintain their democracy and persevered in their search for truth and justice. "State of Fear" is set in the extraordinary deserts, mountains, and jungles of Peru, It is filmed in high-resolution digital video by US and Peruvian professionals and tells a gripping story of escalating violence and repression. Terrorist attacks by the Shining Path guerrillas provoked a military occupation of the countryside. Military Justice replaced Civil authority, widespread abuses by the Peruvian Army went unpunished, and the terrorism continued to spread. Eventually nearly 70,000 civilians died at the hands of the Shining Path and the Peruvian military. Old-fashioned police intelligence finally subdued the terrorist threat but Peruvian leaders continued to use the fear of terrorism to gut the democracy, making Peru a virtual dictatorship where a vast web of corruption replaced the rule of law. In 2000 this autocratic regime collapsed beneath the weight of its own corruption, and the new democratic government established a Truth Commission that opened a door to the past, throwing light on the relentless violence that had engulfed this Andean nation for twenty years. The Truth Commission granted Skylight Pictures access to its extensive testimonial evidence from 20 years of violence, as well as hundreds of hours of rarely seen archival material and thousands of exquisite still photographs that will help bring this timely story to an international audience. --© Skylight Pictures [More]
Director: Pamela Yates
Director: Pamela Yates
Studio: Skylight Pictures
Reviews for State of Fear: The Truth About Terrorism
Whatever its propagandistic purpose, State Of Fear draws out these contemporary resonances through a straightforward, four-square documentary style, patiently revealing its history lesson via the expected talking heads, archival footage, and photog
It gives one much to think about, and that's the first order of the day for any documentary.
An informative and valuable documentary about the past 30 years of messy times in Peru, but it is also frustrating.
A lucid, evenhanded look at the dangers that face democracy and the rule of law in an unending cycle of terrorism and counterterrorism.
Yates' unblinking chronicle of recent Peruvian history paints a devastating picture of a people nearly destroyed by their own leaders.
The impressionistic presentation actually undermines the horrifying facts and moving testimony from survivors on both sides of the conflict.
A fiercely detailed, yet scrupulously balanced documentary about the 20-year cycle of violence, retribution and corruption that engulfed Peru, its government and its citizens.
Based on the testimony of more than 16,000 people, Pamela Yates's harrowing documentary chronicles 20 years of terror, brutality and repression.
The new doc State of Fear may only be effective as an educational tool for Americans, whose media have told them next to nothing about one of the Western Hemisphere's most horrifying killing fields.
Yates encourages us to strike parallels between Peru's war on terror and any other crusade of its ilk without ever turning her attention away from the crisis at hand.
Taking full advantage of the formidable archive materials preserved by the Truth Commission, docudocu sets out to trace two decades of Peru's history that claimed 70,000 lives.
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