The Interrupters | Maryland Film Festival Blog

Maryland Film Festival, in conjunction with JHU’s Center for Advanced Media Studies and MICA’s Film & Video Department, is pleased to present a FREE screening of 2011 MFF documentary selection THE INTERRUPTERS with director Steve James (HOOP DREAMS), on Tuesday, November 13th at the Johns Hopkins University – Homewood Campus at 7:00pm.

This will be the second film in the popular MFF & WYPR “Spotlight Series” that showcases the best of critically-acclaimed independent film in Baltimore. After the screening, WYPR’s Tom Hall will conduct a 10 minute radio interview with Steve James that will be recorded in front of the live audience and aired on 88.1 FM’s Maryland Morning with Sheilah Kast radio show the following week.

This will be followed by a panel discussion about Baltimore schools, Baltimore violence and documentary film moderated by State Attorney Gregg Bernstein and will include panelists Steve James (director of THE INTERRUPTERS, HOOP DREAMS), Michael Hanchard (JHU Center for Africana Studies) and Patrick Wright (MICA Film and Video Chair).

THE INTERRUPTERS with director Steve James
Tuesday 11/13
7:00pm
Johns Hopkins University – Homewood Campus
Hodson 110

Admission is FREE!

“A gut-wrenching documentary”
– Manohla Dargis, The New York Times

“A must-see”
-Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly

THE INTERRUPTERS
Urban violence plagues every American city, and it’s often portrayed as overwhelmingly complex and intractable. This great film argues against that. Shot over a year on the streets of Chicago, the legendary Kartemquin documentary team (most famous for HOOP DREAMS; their films STEVIE, AT THE DEATH HOUSE DOOR, and REEL PARADISE have all screened at past MFFs) explores a group in Chicago called CeaseFire that cuts violence off as it starts.

Founded by epidemiologist Gary Slutkin, and under the leadership of Tio Hardiman, CeaseFire has put together an extraordinary group of people who know the streets, including former gang members, drug dealers, and murderers. Many of these “interrupters” have done time; one, the remarkable Ameena Matthews, is the daughter of the famous gang leader Joe Fort. They all have learned from experience that violence begets violence, so they seek out incidents and work to interrupt the predictable response. They know how to talk to people in the throes of revenge, and their ability to get in the middle of a situation and change it is amazing to see. It does not always work, and sometimes it only works for a little while. But, in a city where 20 people can be killed in one night, the “interrupters” are on a great path.

–Jed Dietz, 2011 MFF Program Guide

More information about THE INTERRUPTERS can be found on the film’s website: http://interrupters.kartemquin.com/

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.