SANTA MONICA, CA - FEBRUARY 25: Director Steve James (L) and Producer Alex Kotlowitz accept the Best Documentary award for "The Interrupters" onstage at the 2012 Film Independent Spirit Awards held at the Santa Monica Pier on February 25, 2012 in Santa Monica, California. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
The 2011 MFF selection THE INTERRUPTERS, a documentary about gang violence in Chicago made by Steve James (HOOP DREAMS) and Alex Kotlowitz, won for best documentary at this weekend’s 2012 Film Independent Spirit Awards.
The film was produced by Kartemquin films and follows members of Chicago’s CeaseFire, an organization that seeks to ‘interrupt’ the actions of men, women and children on the verge of violence, and convince them to resolve their differences through discussion and negotiation.
The documentary, which also took top prize at Cinema Eye Honors, inspired outrage when it failed to win an Oscar nomination.
Mark Jackson, director of 2011 MFF selection WITHOUT, and one of Filmmaker Magazine’s 25 New Faces of Independent film, also won the prestigious “Someone to Watch” award at this weekend’s Spirit Awards.
Maryland Film Festival Blog 
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