Staying out of the whole "good-and-bad-drama"

February 14, 2012 8:43 PM

Tonight Frontline aired the documentary film "The Interrupters", the video is available on Frontline's website. On WTTW, Chicago's major PBS affiliate, a special "Chicago Tonight" followed the presentation. It featured a panel discussion with Violence Interrupters Ameena Matthews, Eddie Bocanegra, and Cobe Williams, an interview with the filmakers and an interview with former Chicago Police Superintendent Jody Weis and CeaseFire Director Tio Hardiman.

There is plenty of other content on the PBS page. Videos: "Meet the Interrupters", "Caprysha, Lil Mikey, Kenneth… Where Are They Now?". Some pieces by Azmat Khan: "CeaseFire: Stopping Violence and Measuring Impact", a Q&A with the filmmakers and others. There is also an essay by producer Alex Kotlowitz.

Despite early Oscar buzz, the film was snubbed for Best Documentary.

CeaseFire.

*Previously on the Blue: "The Interrupters", CeaseFire.

posted by IvoShandor (18 comments total)

DVRing this tonight, looking forward to seeing it in a day or three. I remember hearing the Fresh Air show about the film from a while back, as well as the Talk Of The Nation segment.

I was pretty stoked to hear it was going to be on PBS. Such a giant platform for something that sounds pretty excellent and important.
posted by hippybear at 8:51 PM on February 14

For whatever reason gloating about donating feels weird to me, but I am glad I am able to donate to and support CeaseFire, and I wholeheartedly recommend that anyone living in an urban setting (or otherwise) that hopes to end gang violence donate as well.

Here's the link for Chicago, but there are many local movements you can support as well.

The Department of Justice sponsored a study of the organization that found a 41-73% drops in shootings and killings in CeaseFire zone.
posted by ztdavis at 8:52 PM on February 14

[zones.]
posted by ztdavis at 8:53 PM on February 14

Bummed I missed this -- been meaning to see it for awhile now. Glad to hear it's available on the FRONTLINE site, though! Thanks for the link, IvoShandor.
posted by interrupt at 9:02 PM on February 14

Though the Oscars had no love for it, the Independent Spirit Awards (PDF) have nominated it for Best Documentary.
posted by lantius at 9:13 PM on February 14

I rather stumbled on this at our local 'art house' theater last fall. An amazing and provoking work on folks doing even more amazing things in their community. Really highly recommended.
posted by meinvt at 9:14 PM on February 14

Just so you're aware: the default version on the site has salty language. FCC rules forced us to redact a lot of the dialogue for broadcast, but there are no similar rules (currently) for the Internet. Click the right tab if you're easily offended, motherfucker.
posted by Mayor Curley at 9:38 PM on February 14 [7 favorites]

Mayor Curley -- thanks for the tip. Knowing that, I'll probably watch online, as I don't care for language censorship. Still, thrilled to see that it's on Frontline instead of languishing as one of those documentaries I hear about but never get to see.
posted by hippybear at 10:08 PM on February 14

(Burned too often by poorly researched Frontline episodes.)
posted by RavinDave at 10:20 PM on February 14

(Burned too often by poorly researched Frontline episodes.)

There's a big difference between Frontline episodes and a documentary being shown as part of Frontline. But I'm not going to bother to try to explain it to you.
posted by hippybear at 10:25 PM on February 14 [2 favorites]

(Burned too often by poorly researched Frontline episodes.)

Yeah, the wealth of long-form documentaries on American broadcast television can be overwhelming, right? Tell you what-- how about you just tell me what your worldview is and I'll ask the editorial committee to conform to it.

For the record, this is an acquisition that was widely distributed before FRONTLINE decided buy the distribution rights and allow you to see it for free. Obviously, because you have such strong opinions about the content of Public Television, I can assume that you're a financial contributor, and for that I thank you.
posted by Mayor Curley at 10:48 PM on February 14 [11 favorites]

That was pretty fantastic. I've been hearing about it here and there, glad I finally got a chance to see it.
posted by Chuckles at 1:08 AM on February 15

The title of this documentary reminded me of a totally unrelated, irrelevant, and utterly hilarious clip.
posted by Silky Slim at 3:00 AM on February 15

It's available on Netflix (at least the DVD) now - it's in my queue. Looking forward to seeing it...
posted by jhandey at 5:33 AM on February 15

Ameena Matthews recently was on The Colbert Report to discuss her work . She has also been on an episode of Snap Judgment. Tim White discussed Ceasefire on This American Life.
posted by knile at 5:38 AM on February 15

Mayor Curley with the BUUUUUUUUUUURN.
posted by spicynuts at 6:55 AM on February 15 [1 favorite]

I saw this in the theater in Chicago last year (I had to go back a few times, the first two times I tried to see it the tickets had sold out). It should have gotten the "Best Documentary" Oscar. I'm very glad to see that Frontline is airing this and making it available on the web - in my opinion, this is an important film.
posted by crazy_yeti at 7:19 AM on February 15

Fantastic, thank you. I've been waiting for this to come out for a long time. Director Steve James also directed the first documentary I saw as a kid, Hoop Dreams.
posted by stratastar at 11:05 AM on February 15