“The Interrupters” (download this important PDF click here)
Directed by Steve James. Produced by Alex Kotlowitz and Steve James.
Every City Needs Its Heroes.
An epic tale of courage and hope, The Interrupters is a new film from Chicago-based director/producer Steve James (Oscar-nominated for Hoop Dreams) and award-winning author-turned-producer Alex Kotlowitz (There Are No Children Here), whose original article inspired the film.
Filmed out of Chicago’s Kartemquin Films, The Interrupters follows a year in the life of the city as it grapples with the plague of urban violence. At the heart of the story are Ameena Matthews, Cobe Williams and Eddie Bocanegra, each of whom has credibility on the street because of their own personal histories.
With gumption, wisdom and wit, they work to protect their Chicago communities from the violence they themselves once employed. These “Violence Interrupters” (their job title) — work for CeaseFire, a local organization whose guiding principle is that the spread of violence mimics the spread of infectious diseases, and so respond with similar treatment: go after the most infected, and stop the infection at its source.
See it this summer and fall: http://www.theinterrupters.com
To order The Interrupters on DVD or Blu-ray go to http://kartemquin.com/store
Directed and Photographed by Steve James
Produced by Alex Kotlowitz and Steve James
Seattle Action Network 