On The President's Orders
Feature length film Completed 2019
Director
James Jones
Director
Oliver Sarbil
Doc Society helped with
Production
The searing story of President Duterte's bloody campaign against drug dealers and addicts in the Philippines, told with unprecedented and intimate access to both sides of the war - a kill squad in the Manila police, and an ordinary family from the slum. Shot over almost a year, the film will forensically investigate a murky world where crime, drugs and politics meet in a deathly embrace - and reveal that although the police have been publicly ordered to stop extra-judicial killings, the executions continue.
Crew
A wholly cinematic, sensory experience, with straight-ahead reportage electrified by glaring streetlights and a panicked urban wall of sound...
Variety
May 2, 2019
With its remarkable access and precise tone On The President's Orders draws us in, making us aware of our own inadequacies to elicit change.
POV Magazine
April 28, 2019
A shockingly alarming investigation produced with the sensibilities of a social realist drama, Sarbil and Jones' nonfiction warning should petrify U.S. viewers immeasurably.
Los Angeles Times
Oct. 17, 2019
A riveting account of the consequences of unfettered demagoguery.
The Hollywood Reporter
Oct. 11, 2019
The thesis of "On the President's Orders" isn't terribly original, but in a needlessly roundabout way, it makes its case...
New York Times
Oct. 3, 2019
Told in frightening close-up, this is an uncompromising film that will make any audience member sit up.
The Film Experience
Nov. 20, 2019
On the President's Orders is the disturbing observational documentary we've needed about the Philippines drug war, made with finesse and astonishing access.
Film Inquiry
June 19, 2019
Though it's somewhat uneven and its attempts to construct a narrative are not always successful, there's some powerful material here.
Eye for Film
June 14, 2019
