Small Planet Documentary Production Company

DURATION: 60 min.

In 1994, in the city of Juarez in Mexico, a mysterious series of murders began. Up to this day, some 500 young women have been found savagely raped, strangled, butchered and dumped in the desert...

The murders, which have remained unsolved and which continue to take place, began at the same time as the application in the area of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). At that time, many industrial plants were set up by large multinational companies in Juarez. This resulted in thousands of workers from all over Mexico making their way to Juarez in search of a place in the free trade sun. Today, over half the workers live in shacks without electricity or running water.

At the same time, the city has become one of the world's principal transit centres for cocaine, while the authorities seem to be controlled more by the drug cartels than anyone else. The documentary fits together the pieces of the puzzle of the murders and their impunity, and displays most tragically the extreme and untold consequences of the globalization of the world's markets...

Written & Directed by Yorgos Avgeropoulos / Director of Photography: Yorgos Sotiropoulos / Research Coordinator: Apostolis Kaparoudakis / Production Manager: Anastasia Skoubri / Editing: Dimitris Nikolopoulos, Yiannis Biliris / Research: Petros Koublis, Manolis Filaktidis / Research - Fixing: Thomas Eckert / A Small Planet production for ERT © 2004 – 2005

TECHNICAL DATA

Original shooting format: SD PAL 576i / Aspect Radio 4:3 PAL / Languages: Greek, Spanish, English / Subtitles: Greek / Available Versions: Greek, English, International