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SilverDocs Film Preview: ‘My Life Inside’ Fails to Capture Bigger Picture

SilverDocs is in full swing. Not sure what documentaries to catch (and which to skip)? After Hours tells you what the critics have to say.

Photograph Courtesy of SilverDocs.

Title: My Life Inside

The Premise: The illegal immigration debate is addressed through the case of a woman, Rosa, accused of murdering a child under her care.

The Critics:
“Already stirring up a ruckus south of the border, Lucia Gaja’s My Life Inside stands as a decidedly partisan account of the 2005 trial of Mexican illegal immigrant Rosa Estela Olvera, convicted of suffocating a toddler she was babysitting. Though doc tries to argue that Olvera was the victim of racist injustice in a Texas courtroom, the evidence is quite flimsy, leaving neutral auds with the sense that there’s a good deal of selective reporting going on.”—Robert Koehler, Variety
“Certainly Rosa’s story has implications for the justice system on a wider scale but it is a shame Gaja didn’t widen out her scope. There is no real input from the prosecutors—or justice system as a whole—at all, which is a problem, since in order to show an argument is strong, both sides need to actively participate in a debate. The film also lacks a sense of scale—it is difficult to gauge how widespread this problem is when the only evidence we are given comes in the form of opinion for those working for justice for Mexicans.”—Amber Wilkinson, Eye For Film

Worth the ticket?
Depends. Illegal immigration is a riveting topic—however, transparently partisan documentaries rarely succeed at anything other than further alienating the opposing sides. Right, Michael Moore?

Showtime: 7:30 PM. Also on Sunday, June 22 at 10:30 AM.

For tickets and the full SilverDocs schedule, click here.