They Killed Sister Dorothy (2008) (SIFF) - A

"The Killed Sister Dorothy" is a documentary about the murder of Sister Dorothy Stang, an American nun who spent 37 years working as a missionary in Brazil, helping poor families and promoting sustainable farming. She was one of the chief advocates for the Project for Sustainable Development (PDS) which granted poor families land if they would use the land for sustainable farming. Unfortunately, loggers and ranchers also coveted that land, and there has been an ongoing battle for the land, with numerous murders of poor farmers, and a lot of illegal logging and ranching taking place on land promised to poor families.

"They Killed Sister Dorothy" follows the trial of Sister Dorothy's killers. The big question on everyone's mind is whether or not the ranchers that ordered her killing would be put on trial, or only the actual gunmen. For reasons I can't fathom, the defense team gave the filmmakers immense access to their pretrial efforts. This allows the documentary to paint a clear picture of just how corrupt the Brazilian judicial and penal system is, as well as make it clear that these ranchers are used to being above the law.

The movie ends on a fairly hopeful note. Unfortunately, at the Q&A with the director after the SIFF screening, it was revealed that since the movie wrapped, things have taken a dramatic turn for the worse. One of the men convicted in her death was just freed in early May, and after a couple years where the rate of destruction of the rain forest went down, it has started to go up again in 2008.

I found "They Killed Sister Dorothy" to be highly informative and entertaining. I'd recommend it to anyone with even a remote interest in the subject.

Final Grade: A