Tag Archives: the interrupters

American Film Showcase Heads to Monterrey, Mexico

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By Claire Aguilar
Vice President of Programming, ITVS

ITVS’s Claire Aguilar participated as a film expert at the American Film Showcase in Monterrey, Mexico in August and conducted a two-day workshop at the Escuela Adolfo Prieto. 

The American Film Showcase is an international cultural diplomacy initiative, a partnership between the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts (SCA).  The purpose of the Showcase is to bring people together worldwide through film, showcasing award-winning American films to international audiences through events worldwide.  Filmmakers and film experts discuss the films and conduct workshops to international audiences of festival participants, students, and the local communities.

Filmmaker Steve James during his workshop.

I had the pleasure of participating in the showcase as an expert and conducted two workshops for filmmakers and film students in Monterrey, Mexico, with an invitation from the US Consulate in Monterrey.  I was accompanied by filmmaker Steve James, who screened his latest film The Interrupters – about a group of “violence interrupters” in Chicago who try to protect their community from the violence they once employed.  Steve screened The Interrupters as part of the Monterrey International Film Festival, and to various community groups, including at-risk youth, violence “interrupters” in Mexico, and social aid workers.

Monterrey is Mexico’s third largest city, located in the Northeast foothills of the Sierra Madre mountain range.  It is a large and sprawling city that is Mexico’s 2nd richest, a commercial center filled with many multi-national corporations and is also rich in history and culture.  It also is the locus of many ongoing drug cartel battles – the Mexican drug war has touched many places in Mexico but has particularly affected Monterrey.  It was interesting to see The Interrupters - an American film about violence, drugs, and economic struggles – with many parallels to the violence around gangs and drugs in Mexico.  But it was also interesting to see how audiences in Mexico saw the similarities of universal conflict in the world and were fascinated in how these conflicts could be resolved at home. Continue reading →

The Interrupters: One Year of Impact

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Steve James’s acclaimed documentary The Interrupters — about the Chicago-based anti-violence group CeaseFire — continues to leave its mark on policymakers and community members.

Earlier this year, a screening of the film before Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, may have helped inspire the city to offer an unprecedented $1 million grant toward CeaseFire to hire 40 interrupters to mediate conflicts in local districts.

“The visibility of the work of Ceasefire’s Interrupters program has helped to change the dialogue about violence in Chicago from sound bites on the news to deeper issues affecting families and communities,” said Gordon Quinn, co-founder of Kartemquin Films, in an email to BTB.

Kartemquin is the Chicago-based, non-profit that produced the documentary and has been a longtime champion of independent films and producers.
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ITVS Presents a Social Screening of The Interrupters

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ITVS presents an online social screening of Steve James’ The Interrupters on Thursday, May 31 at 11AM PT / 2PM ET. The event will take place here.



From acclaimed producer-director Steve James (Hoop Dreams) and best-selling author-turned-producer Alex Kotlowitz (There Are No Children Here),  The Interrupters tells the stories of three “violence interrupters” who, with bravado, humility, and even humor, try to protect their Chicago communities from the violence they themselves once employed.

Join us for the first hour of The Interrupters with a real time panel of special guests, who will be taking part in the screening to talk about the themes of the film and take your questions live. You may continue to watch the The Interrupters after the panel ends here. Continue reading →

ITVS Picks Up Two Independent Spirit Awards

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ITVS-funded The Interrupters and Where Soldiers Come From were among the night’s big winners at the 2012 Independent Spirit Awards.

The Independent Spirit Awards celebrate the spirited pioneers who bring a unique vision to the world of independent filmmaking. This past weekend Where Soldiers Come From picked up the Truer Than Fiction award, while The Interrupters won Best Documentary.

The Independent Spirit Awards took place on Saturday, February 25th in Los Angeles, CA. Click here for a complete list of winners.

Please join us in congratulating the filmmakers!

ITVS Puts the ‘Independent’ in the Independent Spirit Awards

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The Interrupters, Where Soldiers Come From, We Were Here, and Hell and Back Again were among the documentaries nominated for this year’s Independent Spirit Awards.

A still from Hell and Back Again by filmmaker Danfung Dennis

With the Academy Awards right around the corner, it is important to remember that the Independent Spirit Awards are also this weekend. ITVS has four films nominated, The Interrupters and We Were Here are up for Best Doc, with Hell and Back Again and Where Soldiers Come From in the Truer Than Fiction category.

The Independent Spirit Awards take place on Saturday, February 25th. Click here for more information.

Join ITVS in congratulating all the filmmakers and check out the trailers after the jump.
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Live Online Screening of The Interrupters

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Kartemquin Films, PBS Frontline, and ITVS invite you to join the filmmakers and subjects of The Interrupters for a special live, online “social screening” of the film beginning at 5:30PM PT / 8:30PM ET. Follow this link to participate in the screening.

Watch The Interrupters Preview on PBS. See more from FRONTLINE.

Participating in the screening will be the film’s producers Steve James and Alex Kotlowitz, and violence interrupter Cobe Williams. More participants are still to be confirmed.
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Oakland Rallies Behind The Interrupters

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Last week, Community Cinema broke records at the Oakland Museum of California with more than 450 audience members in attendance for The Interrupters.  The documentary, by filmmaker Steve James, will premiere Tuesday February 14 on PBS’ FRONTLINE. Watch a clip from the Community screening in Oakland, below:

In partnership with KQED, The Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, Youth ALIVE!, the Urban Peace Movement, and a host of other youth organizations represented, the film showed to a standing room only packed house in two theaters.

Youth were at the center of the discussion and made up the majority of the audience.  The panel included Ameena Matthews and Eddie Bocanegra, Violence Interrupters featured in the film.

Interrupt Violence: New Interactive Website for The Interrupters

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Filmmaker Steve James’ The Interrupters premieres on FRONTLINE Tuesday night on PBS. The ITVS-funded documentary looks at a group of men and women in Chicago — most of them former gang leaders and ex-cons — that are trying to “interrupt” shootings and protect their communities from the violence they once employed.  A companion site for the film, interruptviolence.com, launched today. Kartemquin films have permitted BTB to share their post about some of the site’s features.

Today we’re launching Interrupt Violence (interruptviolence.com), Kartemquin’s first transmedia project, which will expand the journey of The Interrupters into the persistent violence that plagues American cities.

On the new site, users can explore an interactive sequence including background and personal histories of murder victims and communities featured in The Interrupters.
By April, additional sections will be created, including:

Live Chat on The Interrupters with Filmmaker Steve James

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Join FRONTLINE, ITVS, and acclaimed director Steve James to discuss his latest documentary The Interrupters, which premieres Tuesday night on PBS.

Interrupter Ameena Matthews Handles Stephen Colbert

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Featured in the ITVS-funded documentary The Interrupters, Ameena Matthews gave a powerful performance on Wednesday’s edition of the Colbert Report. The documentary, by acclaimed director Steve James, will premiere on PBS’s FRONTLINE on February 14.

The film takes a look at a group of men and women — most of them former gang leaders and ex-cons — that are trying to “interrupt” shootings and protect their communities from the violence they once employed. Watch the trailer for the The Interrupters below:
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