'The Interrupters' Premieres in Chicago Aug. 12 August 4, 2011
| Media contact | |
|---|---|
| Sherri McGinnis González | smcginn@uic.edu |
The film, by director Steve James ("Hoop Dreams") and bestselling author Alex Kotlowitz ("There Are No Children Here"), tells the story of two men and a woman who work as violence interrupters for the violence prevention program founded by Dr. Gary Slutkin.
The violence interrupters featured in the movie are just three of dozens of interrupters working in some of Chicago's most violent neighborhoods to intercept whispers of impending violence that otherwise might result in a shooting.
"Violence interrupters were invented by the CeaseFire program," says Slutkin, professor of epidemiology at UIC and executive director of CeaseFire, "and are now being trained and deployed in over a dozen cities around the country."
"They know what's going on in the neighborhoods. They get information from friends, from hospitals, from moms - and because of their training and their support, they are able to effectively persuade people into not doing a shooting," said Slutkin.
The CeaseFire method treats violence like an infectious disease, preventing its spread to keep neighborhoods safer.
"One event -- a shooting -- leads to another shooting, just the way a case of flu or measles leads to another case of flu or another case of measles," Slutkin said.
"Therefore, we need to interrupt the spread."
Slutkin said James and Kotlowitz approached CeaseFire about doing the film because the project represented a new concept for making neighborhoods safer.
Those concepts include employing people who used to be involved with gangs and "because they are the most effective messengers for working with the minds of people who are currently thinking about violence or who have a lot of difficulties," he said.
The documentary was filmed in Chicago over the course of a year beginning in 2009.
"We also work with people for a longer period of time to help change their thinking about violence and the film shows this as well. With time, we work to shift the norms of the whole neighborhood," said Slutkin, whose CeaseFire method has proven effective and is working in 15 cities around the United States and in five countries.
Violence interrupters in Chicago, for example, have interrupted more than 200 potentially lethal events in the first 6 months of 2011 and more than 2,000 events in the last five years.
"The Interrupters" premiered at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival in January and has received numerous awards and favorable reviews, including the front page of the July 29 New York Times Arts Section and "pick of the week" at Salon.com. Times reviewer Manohla Dargis called the documentary "gut-wrenching," and critic Roger Ebert said it was "Oscar material."
"The Interrupters" screens Aug. 12 at 5:30 p.m. and 8:15 p.m. as part of a two-week theatrical run at the Siskel Film Center before expanding to 27 cities nationwide.
The filmmakers will be present for the 8:15 screening, along with the featured interrupters, Ameena Matthews, Cobe Williams and Eddie Bocanegra; Tio Hardiman, director of CeaseFire Illinois; and Slutkin.
The film is presented by Kartemquin Films for WGBH/Frontline and the Independent Television Service in association with RISE Films. It will be broadcast as part of the PBS "Frontline" series in 2012.
To view a trailer of the movie, visit www.theinterrupters.com/trailer.
To purchase tickets for the Chicago opening, visit www.ticketmaster.com/The-Interrupters-tickets/artist/1618423.
[Photos available: http://newsphoto.lib.uic.edu/v/Cease+Fire/]
[Audio of Slutkin available: http://www.uic.edu/depts/paff/newsbureau/podcasts.html]
