The Interrupters ( Untitled Steve James Project )

The Interrupters (DVD) (*)

Out of Stock

Original Title: Untitled Steve James Project
Screened, competed or awarded at:
Sundance Film Festival
Other Film Festival Awards

Language Selections:
English ( Dolby Digital Stereo )

Product Origin/Format:
United Kingdom ( PAL/Region 2 )

Running Time:
125 min + 70 min extras

Aspect Ratio:
Widescreen (1.78:1)

Special Features:
Cast/Crew Interview(s)
Deleted Scenes
Interactive Menu
Scene Access
Trailer(s)

Movie filmed in 2011 and produced in:
United States ( USA, Canada )

Directed By:
Steve James

Written By:
Steve James

Actors:
Ameena Matthews ..... Herself
Jeff Fort ..... Himself (archive footage)
Cobe Williams ..... Himself
Derrion Albert ..... Himself (archive footage)
Tio Hardiman ..... Himself
Eddie Bocanegra ..... Himself
Gary Slutkin ..... Himself

Synopsis:

The Interrupters, all former gang members, bring 500 years of prison time to the table. As members of the experimental anti-violence programme CeaseFire, they aim to intervene in conflicts before they explode into violence. At their heart is Ameena Matthews, an ex-gang enforcer and daughter of a notorious gang leader who launches herself into the middle of erupting conflicts, using her rhetorical gifts to cool the hottest heads. Academy award nominated director Steve James (Hoop Dreams and Stevie) working with acclaimed author Alex Kotlowitz follows The Interrupters for a year. He delivers an epic and ultimately uplifting film which chronicles the difficulty of breaking generational cycles of violence, and the potential for redemption which lies within every one of us.

The stories in 'The Interrupters," a hard wallop of a documentary, may weigh heavily on your heart and head, but they will also probably infuriate you. When a frail-looking child with startled eyes breaks down crying, her tiny hands covering her tiny face as she talks about a neighborhood shooting, it's hard not to want to gather her up in your arms. It's also difficult not to feel outrage along with a sense of confused, familiar helplessness because this child lives in that war-torn part of the world called Chicago. Directed and shot by Steve James, best known for 'Hoop Dreams," 'The Interrupters" takes a look at a gutsy, activist component of the Chicago Project for Violence Prevention. The project was founded in 1995 by Dr. Gary Slutkin, an epidemiologist who traveled the world, including for the World Health Organization Global Program on AIDS. After returning home to Chicago and hearing stories about children murdering children, he created the project, operating from the reasonable premise that violence is, fundamentally, a public health issue. To judge from the documentary, which follows activists taking their message to Chicago's mean streets over the course of a year (it winds down in spring, a not entirely persuasive nod to new beginnings), we are living in plague years.

This product was added to our catalog on Tuesday 14 February, 2012.