The Photographer: Murder in Pinamar - An alarming true-crime documentary depicting ruthless power-play

Modified May 20, 2022 08:46 GMT

A still from The Photographer: Murder in Pinamar (Image Via Netflix/YouTube)

The Photographer: Murder in Pinamar is an intensely woven true-crime documentary film, that premiered on Thursday, May 19, 2022, on the popular streaming platform Netflix.

Gabriel Bobillo, Tatiana Mereñuk and Alejandro Hartmann have served as the co-writers of the spine-chilling documentary, while Alejandro Hartmann has also served as the director.

The synopsis of the documentary given by Netflix, says:

"This documentary examines the murder of photojournalist José Luis Cabezas, a crime that shook Argentina and exposed a political and financial conspiracy."

Since its premiere, the documentary has been getting a lot of positive responses from both critics and audiences for telling such a compelling true story in a strikingly absorbing manner. Without further delay, let's take a closer look and find out how the brand new gripping true-crime documentary film unfolded.

A major takeaway of The Photographer: Murder in Pinamar

What happened to the Argentinian photo journalist José Luis Cabezas?

The documentary depicts the jaw-dropping and quite rattling murder case of an Argentinian photo journalist José Luis Cabezas, who used to work for the Noticias, a popular Argentinian newsmagazine. As a photo journalist, Cabezas was quite fierce and hardworking.

On January 24, 1997, Cabezas went to a party with his work-partner in Pinamar. Although his partner returned earlier, he insisted on staying at the party. The next morning, the police discovered that Cabezas had been murdered and his body was burned along with his car in a ditch in Pinamar.

Reportedly, the murder was committed by a criminal gang called the 'Los Horneros' and was led by the Deputy Chief of Pinamar, Prellezo. However, the murder was a pre-planned crime that was ordered by Alfredo Yabrán, a high-profile and extremely powerful businessman.

In the latter part of the documentary, it was revealed that he was not abducted from the party, rather the gang followed him to his house and kidnapped him from there. Allegedly, they beat him up and physically tortured him mercilessly on their way to the ditch.

Upon reaching, Prellezo took Cabezas out of the car and made him face a wall while he shot him twice in the head. They reportedly burned his dead body and the car to get rid of the evidence. The brutal death of Cabezas shook the entire country and rattled its economic and political scenario.

What was the possible reason behind Cabezas's murder?

As shown in the documentary, Cabezas took a photo of Alfredo Yabrán with his wife on a beach in Pinamar on the Atlantic Coast. Reportedly, Noticias magazine published the photo on the cover of their magazine in March 1996.

Allegedly, before that, Alfredo Yabrán's face was unknown to the people of Argentina. The photograph taken by Cabezas, uncoverd Yabrán's face to everyone for the first time. This did not go well with the powerful businessman, and this is the possible reason behind the dreadful murder of José Luis Cabezas.

The documentary shows that at the time Alfredo Yabrán had a powerful connection with the Government of Argentina, the Air Force, and the Church as well. The documentary boldly highlighted the fact that he was well-protected by the Government even after committing a crime that shook the nation to its core.

Hence, the documentary depicts how ruthless power-play took the life of José Luis Cabezas.

Watch The Photographer: Murder in Pinamar, streaming on Netflix from May 19, 2022.

Edited by Somava