The Photographer: Murder in Pinamar

Alejandro Hartmann's 2022 Argentine documentary covers the murder of the photographer Jose Luis Cabezas in the summer of 1997. Cabezas had photographed a businessman the public had never seen, and the killing set off a lasting public reaction in the country. The documentary treats the case not as a single crime but as a system. The connections between the local police, politics and business emerge as the investigation proceeds; the real question is not who pulled the trigger but who formed part of the chain of instruction. Hartmann combines news footage of the period, court records and interviews with journalists. The narrative shows a time when press freedom and physical safety were the same thing. Who it's for: those interested in crime documentaries and Latin American political history. Who it's not for: viewers uncomfortable with images from the scene; the documentary shows some photographs directly.