Joan Pavon

On the Spot

Having one day realized that his career as a lawyer was not satisfying, Miguel Gil took off on his motorbike with no journalism experience. His dedication and enthusiasm led him to learn from some of the best war journalists in the most dangerous situations, something that not many could achieve. Several years later, he was killed in Sierra Leone along with an American journalist. This film traces his journey. Many journalists were interviewed for this documentary and they all insist that they are on a crusade for truth, which is ironic and hard to swallow as some of them are from CNN and other huge American news corporations that have transformed the news into consumer-friendly bite-sized sound bites accompanied by exciting video game-like footage. However, on the whole this documentary provides an eye-opening account of the conflicts of the last fifteen years and those who risk their lives to report on them.