A Thousand Cuts

Ramona S. Diaz's 2020 documentary follows the journalist Maria Ressa in the Philippines. The news site she founded publishes on the anti-drug operations of the Duterte years, and court cases pile up in return. The argument is that the pressure came not in one blow but through many small steps. Organised social media campaigns, libel suits and disputes over licensing follow one another, and the narrative shows them as parts of a single process. The crew film both the newsroom and figures on the government side. Ressa shared the Nobel Peace Prize after the film. Who it's for: those interested in press freedom and disinformation. Who it's not for: viewers expecting neutral reporting; the documentary stands with Ressa.