Événement

Crips and Bloods: Made in America

(Stacy Peralta, USA, 2008, DigiBeta, 92 min)

With an outsider's eye, Stacy Peralta (Dogtown and Z-Boys) continues his investigation of male subcultures, this time chronicling the emergence of South Central L.A.'s Crips and Bloods. Energetic and skillfully told, Peralta's documentary argues that the block-by-block gang warfare that has been holding black communities captive for decades is distinctly American. Narrated by Forest Whitaker, Made in America places rare archival footage alongside interviews with former gang members and scholars to explore the demoralizing impact of deflated economic opportunities for black communities after WWII and the calculated incarceration and assassination of black political leaders during the 1960s. With black populations ghettoized, L.A. officials systematically squashed community life and political resistance, leaving young black men to form their own systems of kinship and governance. Fueled by a cycle of economic and political alienation, the 30-year-long daily cycle of neighborhood skirmishes has claimed over 15,000 lives.

"A shocking, absorbing and absolutely necessary film." Salon.com

"It's impossible to look away from the screen." Variety