Educational Media Reviews Online

Starting with a correspondence between Investigative Reporter Bastian Obermayer of Munich, Germany and a whistleblower named “John Doe”, voiced by Elijah Wood (Lord of the Rings), begins the true story of the investigation and exposure into the hidden world of the global infrastructure of offshore tax havens. In this documentary entitled The Panama Papers we go through the journey of what started as a whistle-blower operation from a “concerned citizen” leaking documents from a law firm in Panama to a full fledge investigative reporting project with 375 journalists hailing from the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and their partners.

We see the build to up the night of the publication of the Panama Papers on April 3, 2016, and its immediate global reach to media outlets worldwide and the response from those it exposes. Showing the hidden infrastructure and global scale of offshore tax havens that includes, rich elite, celebrities, banks, drug cartels, and certain heads of state from countries all over the world. In addition, the documentary highlights the plight of investigative journalists. The highs of their profession and the horrific tragedies of such a necessary but dangerous job underscored with the assassination of Investigative Journalist Daphne Galizia in Malta.

We have all heard of the schemes with shell corporations, offshore accounts, money laundering, etc. but Alex Winter captures the viewer with his artistry. Alex not only uses the “shaky camera” technique to give you the feel that you are there but uses the imagery of the people and places all over the world affected by the actions of the actors in this international scandal. He also shows the beautiful and illustrious landscapes of those places from where they operate from. Having the journalists speak on their experiences along with actual news coverage paints the picture for those who either do not remember this or had no clue this happened. Alex displayed for us “John Doe’s” manifesto, but only in parts and can leave one thinking is there more to it? Especially, since the identity of ‘John Doe’ has never been revealed. The journalists assure us that more continues to come out in the after of the papers. Since this is a worldwide phenomenon, I’m pretty sure the rabbit hole of is much deeper.

If you are someone who is interested in investigative journalism, or issues in regards to systemic income inequality, poverty, drug trafficking, or global financial scandals this documentary is for you. This documentary falls into the same vein of other documentaries like Inside Job and Alex Gibney’s Park Avenue: Money, Power and The American Dream.

Awards:
Audience Jury Award at the Fantasporto Film Festival

Published and licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. Anyone can use these reviews, so long as they comply with the terms of the license.