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Christian Poveda French Filmmaker of ¨La Vida Loca¨ Murdered.

by patgarcia | September 6, 2009 at 12:35 pm

1033 views | 37 Recommendations | 5 comments

It took Christian Poveda two years to be accepted by the gang M18, and start his documentary wanting to know and show the human side of these gang members, examples of what he calls ¨absolute human loneliness¨. As he got to know the gang´s society organization he was aiming to reconcile rival gang Mara Salvatrucha with the M18, he thought peace among these gangs was the beginning of a solution to this social problem that costs1500 lives each year. Some critics say his documentary is about an anthropological confrontation.

Christian Poveda expressed at CNN Español with Carmen Aristegui that the gang leaders¨los palabreros¨ were considering to accepted having a meeting with an intermediary. As he was asked by Carmen Aristegui who that person could be..... he smiled and said I cam´t tell you yet. It is believed by many he would have been that person. May he rest in peace.

A French filmmaker who recently finished a documentary about a violent street gang in El Salvador was found shot dead in the town of Tonacatepeque, about 10 miles northeast of the capital city of San Salvador, authorities said.

Christian Poveda, 52, was shot at least four times in the face, according to local reports.

Poveda's documentary, "La Vida Loca," which follows the lives of members of the Mara 18 street gang, had been screened at a handful of film festivals and is slated for wider release later this month. His body was found in an area controlled by that same gang, local reports said.

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Amy Judd

at 15:43 on September 6th, 2009

So sad.

Pythiian1

at 15:54 on September 6th, 2009

What an unfortunate news. Perhaps someone didn't like what Mr. Poveda was doing, but killing him was not the solution, I think.

Roy C

at 17:10 on September 6th, 2009

MS 13 is one of the worst organizations I have ever heard of, and I worked often, over a period of three years, in the LA County Schools, which are the "jail schools".

"Love" and "understanding" alone will not make the change. The gang members have to be isolated, stripped of their gang identity, and just totally not permitted to act out at all.

Only after really breaking down that gang identity can you re-integrate the gang member in some new environment without trouble.

Yes, some do this themselves. They are the ones with the healthiest and most complete emotional and intellectual development. They are rare.

The rest need a lot of help, and not all of the help looks like "love".

Whoever shot this man in the face did it to show the maximum of disrespect to the film director, to prevent a funeral with an open coffin. That was the act of someone really, really angry with him.

patgarcia

at 18:02 on September 6th, 2009

Thanks for sharing your experience and information about this issue with us. It is not easy at all I agree with you ¨not all of the help looks like "love".¨