BRITDOC.ORG/IMPACT REALLY GREAT CAPACITY BUILDING…. THE AN INCREDIBLE LIST OF NGOS THAT THE INTERRUPTERS FILMMAKERS WORKED The Interrupters tells the moving and WITH. I LOVE THE surprising stories of three Violence Interrupters who try to protect their Chicago FOCUS ON THEATRICAL communities from the violence they once employed. Shot over the course of a year, Q&AS AND HARNESSING the film captures a period in Chicago when it became a national symbol for THE ENERGY OF THE the violence in US cities. The film’s main subjects, ”The Interrupters”, work for an AUDIENCE IN innovative organization, CeaseFire; they have credibility on the streets because of THE CINEMA” their own personal histories and intervene in conflicts before they erupt into violence. PEER REVIEW COMMITTEE WHAT THE CRITICS SAID “The Interrupters is one of the great movies of the Obama era, the best and most painful so far” Boston Globe “Superb... every member of the U.S. House, the U.S. Senate, the White House and the tea party, let alone anybody simply interested in meeting some complicated and remarkable Chicagoans, should see the film” Chicago Tribune “ For ordinary moviegoers in search of an enthralling experience, that work and this film are heroically life-affirming” TIME 1 THE FILM THE WHO SAW IT “I WAS THERE. IT MADE ME FESTIVALS 44 in 15 countries LAUGH; IT MADE ME CRY; IT MADE Premiere Sundance 2011 ME WANT TO BECOME MORE VIEWERS AT COMMUNITY SCREENINGS ACTIVE IN MY OWN COMMUNITY/ 16K in 44 out of 50 states (including over 100 in Chicago) PROVIDE MENTORSHIP. POWERFUL, 200 via Cinema Guild POWERFUL FILM. HUGE THANKS AND 100 via Youth PROMISE Act party screenings Internationally screened in over 25 countries BLESSINGS TO AMEENA, COBE, EDDIE including Mexico, Brazil, Columbia, South Africa, AND EVERYONE OUT THERE ON THE South Korea, Iran, Montenegro and Australia. FRONT LINES MAKING A DIFFERENCE ESTIMATED CINEMA AUDIENCE IN YOUNG PEOPLE’S LIVES.” 41K Film shown in 105 cinemas in the US PHOEBE KING, CHICAGO Across 23 cities in the UK and 6 cities in Canada TELEVISION VIEWERS 2.9M across 9 territories including PBS Frontline in USA Sweden SVT – 175,000 United Kingdom– BBC4 – 245,000 Denmark– DRTV – 96,000 Norway – NRK – 49,000 France - Canal Plus France – 50, 000 DVD 20K 18,700 sold in the US 2,000 in the UK AWARDS AND PRIZES 14 including 5 Best Documentary Awards ONLINE TRAILER 540K 548,512 views WEBSITE 160K 102,450 unique visitors to www.TheInterrupters.com EMAIL LIST 1.5K Mainly organisations SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES 12K 7250 Facebook Likes 5450 Twitter followers @TheInterrupters 2 THE CAMPAIGN THE THE CAMPAIGN THE CAMPAIGNERS with no personal experience of it. Kartemquin Films, the production outfit The campaign wanted to address both behind The Interrupters, is a known Chicagoan behavioural and policy issues including: nonprofit of 40 years standing, which specialises • Urban violence in independent media and engagement • Conflict prevention & transformation with untold stories of social importance. • Anger management Kartemquin bolstered their internal team • The importance of mentors & programs aiding with external hires of outreach and online youth consultants in order to run the campaign • Rehabilitation & re-entry programs around The Interrupters and the associated • Life transformation interactive project, InterruptViolence.com • Poverty (e.g. unemployment and under resourced communities) CAMPAIGN AIMS • Racial disparities (e.g. lack of opportunities) The filmmakers’ aim was to use The Interrupters • Culture of punishment over as a tool to start a conversation around the prevention & early intervention complexities and roots of violence, and for A larger goal was to work with local, the film to be seen by the state and federal government to communities most affected THE FILMMAKERS’ AIM WAS expand social services and other by these issues. The agencies that promote and address filmmakers also believe TO START A CONVERSATION many of these social issues. the film is an invaluable AROUND THE COMPLEXITIES tool in helping to redress media driven perceptions AND ROOTS OF VIOLENCE HOW THE CAMPAIGN WORKED of innercity violence; its The campaign was launched at the causes and solutions, Youth Media Summit in Chicago often held by populations in 2011, where nearly 100 Chicago 3 THE CAMPAIGN THE area high school students from different violence prevention organisations. neighbourhoods, races and communities S.O.S. (Save Our Streets) Crown Heights watched the film and met the filmmakers. was one such organisation, a community This gave young people an opportunity to based violence intervention effort in New tell adults about their own experiences. The York which is modelled on Ceasefire. most repeated phrase that day was “We need to show The Interrupters in my school.” The organisation attended the film’s theatrical premiere at the IFC Center in Manhattan and This was a campaign that put huge focus on has subsequently been part of dozens of New community screenings as the film continued York based events past the theatrical stage. Violence prevention coordinated by The organisations initially partnered with the THE MOST REPEATED PHRASE Interrupters Outreach film for theatrical events were called upon Team: whether it THAT DAY WAS “WE NEED TO to lend context and advocacy to a wide was a Snag Films programme of community engagement events. SHOW THE INTERRUPTERS IN live online Snag At nearly 50 different theatrical bookings held The Vote screening, MY SCHOOL.” from July 2011 to January 2012, local theatres a local New York allowed local violence prevention groups to City school screening or gathering a New talk directly to moviegoers at post-screening York perspective for InterruptViolence. Q&As. If there were difficulties coordinating a com, the S.O.S. Crown Heights team and panel with a violence prevention organisation, their local partners have been a large the outreach team would even include a part of delivering the film’s message. city’s police gang unit, as was the case with Amy Ellenbogen, Project Director for S.O.S. a December 2011 Crown Heights noted “Violence is a symptom screening in Dallas. VIOLENCE IS A SYMPTOM OF of other systems that have broken apart: These theatrical the education system, the policing system, OTHER SYSTEMS THAT HAVE Q&As put the energy so it’s really a whole circle of problems.” BROKEN APART of a community screening into The Interrupters has been shown at more than movie theatres as 400 community organised screenings around local violence prevention groups were able the country where it’s been used as a tool to speak to moviegoers and tell them how to spur discussion about urban violence and they too could take action. Some of these ways to combat it. A few examples include: relationships created local partners in these • Educators from middle school to university select cities to help roll out and publicise level in cities including Chicago, Oakland the film, while the attention given to the and Toronto have developed lesson plans film brought headlines to under-publicised based around the film’s themes and morals 4 THE CAMPAIGN THE • Showings in adult prisons such as to get to know what was going on locally The Danville Correctional Center and in their adjacent neighbourhoods youth correction facilities such as • The City of Milwaukee sponsored two The Chicago Illinois Youth Center, where screenings through support from Harley- the film is used as a rehabilitation tool Davidson Motor Company. Milwaukee Mayor • Colleges and medical schools from Tom Barrett attended one of the screenings Harvard Law to Northwestern Medical have and explained, “Screening The Interrupters used the film to begin a conversation about in Milwaukee has provided an opportunity the deeply entrenched poverty in US cities for some blunt discussions about violence, the consequences of violence, and • Church groups from Oakland violence prevention. It also shares some to Houston to Newark have used very human messages about hope in the film in their communities some seemingly hopeless situations” • Diverse organisations have screened • A free screening of The Interrupters the film at their national conferences, was sponsored by Philadelphia’s including the International Society Mayor, Michael Nutter, and the Mayor’s for Traumatic Stress Studies, the Commission on African American American Bar Association and the Males. This screening brought together American Civil Liberties Union a myriad of the city’s organisations from • The American Film Showcase, an the Philadelphia CeaseFire to youth- international film series that “illustrates led dance troupe The Dollar Boyz diverse viewpoints, and reflects • The outreach team’s partners at contemporary American society and CeaseFire coordinated a screening at culture” for overseas audiences, continued the United States Conference of to screen the film in 2013 with engagements Mayors, an annual conference bringing at US Embassies and other community together hundreds of mayors from across screenings in Moscow; Medellin, Columbia; the United States. The screening and Bosnia & Herzegovina and Algeria discussion resulted in the conference • The film was also shown to around adopting a resolution that “affirm[ed] 50 health professionals during the its support for public health approaches 2012 Annual Meeting of the National to violence prevention as pioneered Association of County and City by the CeaseFire health approach” Health Officials in Los Angeles These screenings were all supported by a • 700 high school