Logged: Philadelphia Independent Film festival / #PUFF
My Kidnapper.
My Kidnapper is an exceedingly well-executed example of the newly emerging genre of self exploratory documentaries following the story of seven tourists kidnapped by Columbian guerilla fighters (ELN) seeking media attention for human rights violations in the region. Mark Henderson, the director and producer, was also the kidnap victim that the narrative follows. It's an interesting take on Stockholm syndrome: liberated kidnap victims feel the need to return to their captors (with whom they have developed a warped species of friendship) in order to find solace.
My Kidnapper blurs the line between victim and kidnapper. Henderson does this by leading us back and forth, through a visual and narrative experience, from his view and that of the Kidnapper. The personalities of the ELN and the reasoning behind their deeds are revealed, creating a controversial look into the minds of a militant human rights group for the viewer.
Yes, the kidnap victims had their basic rights taken from them, but is that somehow justified in this narrative? Or was the entire ordeal just a contradiction to the freedom that the ELN were fighting for?
See you at the Festival.
TRT: 82:46
English / Spanish
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