Made in America, a selection for the 2008 Sundance Film Festival, chronicles the rise of the Crips and Bloods, tracing the origins of their bloody four-decades long feud, and setting up the introduction of a cast of contemporary gang members whose street-level testimony provides the film with a stark portrait of modern-day gang life: the turf wars and territorialism, the inter-gang hierarchy and family structure, the rules of behavior, the culture of guns, death and dishonor.
More than a simple account, perspective is an essential element of Made in America. Throughout the film ex-gang members, gang intervention experts, writers, activists and academics analyze many of the salient issues that contribute to South LA’s malaise: the erosion of identity that fuels the self-perpetuating legacy of black self-hatred, the disappearance of the African-American father and an almost pervasive prison culture in which today one out of every four black men will be imprisoned at some point in his life.
Please join us for a provocative Q&A session immediately following the film.
***You must present a photo ID in order to enter the Studio Lot***
Featured Speakers:
Rev. Jeff Carr, Director, Gang Reduction and Youth Development Programs for the City of Los Angeles
Stacy Peralta, Director, Made in America
Connie Rice, Co-Director, Advancement Project Los Angeles
Also speaking will be several subjects from the film.