Death by a Thousand Cuts

Eligio Eloy Vargas, alias Melaneo, a Dominican Park Ranger in the Sierra de Bahoruco National Park was found brutally murdered by machete. At the time, he was believed to have been on patrol investigating an illegal charcoal production site often run by Haitians coming across the border into protected Dominican forests. This murder becomes a metaphor for the larger story of increasing tension between Haiti and the Dominican Republic over illicit charcoal exploitation and mass deforestation: the alleged murder weapon itself being the same tool used to chop down Dominican trees by the thousands.

Screening Schedule

No physical screenings scheduled.

Cinematography: Juan Carlos Castaneda

Editing: Adriana Pacheco

Sound: Juan E. Yepes

Music: Daniel Miller

Production: Tarasios Production in association with: Human Pictures

Producers: Jake Kheel, Ben Selkow

Format: Color

Production Country: USA-Dominican Republic

Production Year: 2016

Duration: 73