Director of Gang Documentary Shot Dead

French filmmaker falls victim to violence he recorded in El Salvador
By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 4, 2009 7:22 AM CDT
Director of Gang Documentary Shot Dead
Christian Poveda's body is transported from a medical center in San Salvador, Thursday, Sept. 3, 2009.   (AP Photo/Luis Romero)

The director of a documentary about the brutal gang life in El Salvador was himself the victim of gang violence, shot dead in a car 10 miles outside San Salvador, the Independent reports. Christian Poveda, a 52-year-old French filmmaker, directed La Vida Loca, which aired locally and hits France this month. The film sheds light on day-to-day lives in a 30,000-strong gang culture that claimed 5,000 lives last year.

Poveda is said to have witnessed seven murders while he was making the film, which inclues images of shootings, public beatings, relatives crying over coffins, and gang members with faces covered by tatoos of their logos.
(More documentary stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X