The Interrupters
Feature length film Completed 2011
Director
Steve James
Doc Society helped with
Impact
Went to Good Pitch
Runtime: 125 minutes
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The Interrupters tells the moving and surprising stories of three “violence interrupters” - two men and a woman - who with bravado, humility and even humor try to protect their Chicago communities from the violence they once employed. From acclaimed director Steve James and bestselling author Alex Kotlowitz, this film is an unusually intimate journey into the stubborn, persistence of violence in our cities. Shot over the course of a year, The Interrupters follows these individuals as they attempt to intervene in disputes before they turn violent: a family where two brothers threaten to shoot each other; an angry teenaged girl just home from prison; a young man on a warpath of a revenge. The film captures not only each interrupters’ work, but reveals their own inspired journeys from crime to hope and redemption.
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Crew
Steve James
Director
Steve James is an American film producer and director whose award-winning films include Hoop Dreams, Stevie, and most recently, The Interrupters, his fifth feature to premiere at the Sundance Film Festival and winner of the Independent Spirit Award. His work has also taken on global subjects like contemporary immigration (The New Americans miniseries) and the impact of Western culture in the developing world (Reel Paradise). James has been nominated for an Academy Award, received two Peabody Awards, and the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award, among others.
Key Personnel
Raj Patel is an award-winning writer, academic and activist. He is the author of the New York Times bestseller The Value of Nothing, and Stuffed and Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World Food System. His writing has been translated into dozens of languages.
In January 2007, Cynthia Kane moved cross-continent from New York to San Francisco to work at ITVS overseeing the International Initiative. Prior she’s had many incarnations from actor to writer to producer. She co-created DOCday on Sundance Channel during her 10-year tenure there.
Julie Goldman has produced a wide range of award-winning feature documentaries, including Sundance Audience Award winner and IFC Films’ hit Buck. Recent films include: Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry, Finding North, Koran By Heart, Sergio and Better This World. Julie consulted on Oscar winner The Cove and Valentino: The Last Emperor.
Rachel Wexler runs Bungalow Town in the UK. She has produced many acclaimed films including: The English Surgeon, Guilty Pleasures, All White in Barking, Shed your Tears and Walk Away, Out of the Ashes, Garbage Warrior and My Perestroika. Bungalow Town won an Emmy in 2010 and a Grierson award in 2011.
