Poitras' New Doc Uses Horror Tropes to Expose ICE Violence in Minneapolis
Oscar-winning filmmaker Laura Poitras premiered her 25-minute documentary 'They're Here' at Venice, co-directed with Rachel Lauren Mueller. The film chronicles Minneapolis resistance to ICE's paramilitary occupation, using dystopian and horror aesthetics to challenge normalization of violence. Poitras emphasized the urgency of documenting what she calls a nightmare in the U.S.
The 25-minute feature, co-directed by Poitras and Mueller, premiered at Venice. It blends surveillance footage and community-sourced visuals to portray a dystopian 2025 Minneapolis. Poitras, previously celebrated for *Citizenfour* and the Nan Goldin biopic, returns to documentary filmmaking with this project.
The filmmakers employed sci-fi and horror aesthetics to convey the terror of ICE operations. Mueller noted the goal is to move audiences beyond intellectual detachment. Poitras highlighted that local resistance prompted an 80% reduction in ICE agents, yet the agency's massive $70 billion budget and recent record abductions (90,000 in two months) underscore the ongoing crisis.
This film could reshape public perception of immigration enforcement by translating abstract statistics into visceral imagery. Viewers may become more empathetic toward immigrant communities facing surveillance, potentially sparking renewed civic scrutiny of federal agency tactics. By framing the issue through horror, it could disrupt passive consumption of news, prompting broader debate about civil liberties and the normalization of state violence in contemporary America.