Christian Gregorio Poveda Ruiz (January 12, 1957 – September 2, 2009), known as Christian Poveda, was a

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

- French

photojournalist Photojournalism is journalism that uses images to tell a news story. It usually only refers to still images, but can also refer to video used in broadcast journalism. Photojournalism is distinguished from other close branches of photography (suc ...

and

film director A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that Goal, vision. The director has a key role ...

. He covered the world's conflict zones for more than 30 years. Poveda's documentary film ' (2008) is about two rival gangs in El Salvador.

Life

Born to exiled Spanish parents in

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

, he went to

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

with his family in 1961/2.

''La Vida Loca''

''La Vida Loca'' (The Crazy Life, 2008) is a documentary filmed by Poveda in

El Salvador El Salvador, officially the Republic of El Salvador, is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south by the Pacific Ocean. El Salvador's capital and largest city is S ...

about the life of local

gang A gang is a social group, group or secret society, society of associates, friends, or members of a family with a defined leadership and internal organization that identifies with or claims control over Wiktionary:territory#Noun, territory in a ...

s. For 16 months Poveda filmed the marginal young people of El Salvador divided between two rival gangs, the

Mara Salvatrucha Mara Salvatrucha, commonly known as MS-13, is an international criminal gang that originated in Los Angeles, California, in the 1980s. Originally, the gang was set up to protect Salvadoran immigrants from other gangs in the Los Angeles area ...

and the

18th Street gang The 18th Street Gang, also known as , , , or simply in North America, is a multi-ethnic (largely Central American and Culture of Mexico, Mexican) street gang in Los Angeles. It is one of the largest street gangs in Los Angeles, with around 30 ...

. The hand-held camera focuses on daily life in a base cell of one of the gigantic maras, the ''la Campanera X-18 clique,'' composed of fifty engaging adolescents and young adults with an average age of 16 to 18. The documentary was presented in the

San Sebastián International Film Festival The San Sebastián International Film Festival ( SSIFF; , ) is an annual FIAPF A category film festival held in the Spain, Spanish city of Donostia, Donostia-San Sebastián in September, in the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Countr ...

in September 2008.

Death

Poveda was

shot Shot may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Shot'' (album), by The Jesus Lizard *''Shot, Illusion, New God'', an EP by Gruntruck *'' Shot Rev 2.0'', a video album by The Sisters of Mercy * "Shot" (song), by The Rasmus * ''Shot'' (2017 ...

to death in Tonacatepeque, El Salvador on September 2, 2009; probably by a member of a

mara Mara or MARA may refer to: Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Mara (''Doctor Who''), an evil being in two ''Doctor Who'' serials * Mara (She-Ra), fictional characters from the ''She-Ra and the Princesses of Power'' and ''The New Advent ...

. He was 52 years old. It is alleged that certain police and gang members were unhappy with Poveda's documentary. He had promised his subjects that ''La Vida Loca'' would not be released in El Salvador, but he was powerless to prevent pirated copies from being sold. In 2011, ten gang members and a former police officer were convicted and sent to prison for Poveda's death. French Foreign Minister

Bernard Kouchner Bernard Kouchner (born 1 November 1939) is a French politician and doctor. He is the co-founder of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and Médecins du Monde. From 2007 until 2010, he was the French Minister of Foreign and European Affairs in t ...

praised Poveda's work, calling him "a respected journalist, a professional who never hesitated to take great risks in the name of freedom of information." Salvadoran Public Safety Minister Manuel Melgar said Poveda's killing was a "repugnant and reproachable criminal act".

References

External links

Poveda's profile
at Agence Vu *
''La Vida Loca''
official site 1955 births 2000s murders in El Salvador 2009 crimes in El Salvador 2009 deaths 2009 murders in North America Assassinated French journalists Deaths by firearm in El Salvador French people murdered abroad French people of Spanish descent People murdered in El Salvador Unsolved murders in El Salvador People assassinated in the 21st century {{France-journalist-stub

Life

''La Vida Loca''

Death

See also

References

External links