Study Guide - The Interrupters

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THE INTERRUPTERS
Director/
Producer:
Cinematographer:
Steve James
Run Time
125 minutes
Website
http://interrupters.kartemquin.com
Awards
Synopsis:
Living, breathing, modern-day heroes are inspiring hope on the scary streets of
Chicago. Meet The Interrupters—former gang members who disrupt violence in
their neighborhoods as it happens. Acclaimed director Steve James (Hoop Dreams,
Stevie), working with noted author Alex Kotlowitz, recounts the gripping stories of
men and women who, with bravado, humility, and humor, strive to protect their
communities from the brutality they once employed. With his signature intimate
vérité, James follows these individuals over the course of a year as they attempt to
intervene in disputes before they turn violent: two brothers who threaten to shoot
each other, an angry teenage girl just home from prison, and a young man on a
warpath of revenge. Both a voyage into the stubborn persistence of bloodshed in
our cities today and a beacon of light, James’s unforgettable documentary captures
each Interrupter’s inspired work, transporting us on a powerful journey from crime
to trust to redemption.
Independent Spirit Awards:
Best Documentary
Sundance Film Festival:
Official Selection, World Premiere
Cinema Eye Honors:
Outstanding Achievement in
Nonfiction Feature Filmmaking &
Best Direction
IndieWire National Critics Poll:
Best Documentary
Chicago Film Critics Association
Awards:
Best Documentary
Sheffield Doc/Fest:
Best Feature Documentary
Directors Guild of America:
Outstanding Directorial Achievement
in Documentary, Nominated
Full Frame Documentary Film
Festival:
Special Jury Award
National Film Critics Association:
Best Documentary
Steve James is best known as the producer-director of Hoop Dreams, winner of every major critics
prize of 1994, as well as the Directors Guild of America Award, and the Peabody and Robert F.
Kennedy Journalism Awards. Hoop Dreams was named to the Library of Congress National Film
Registry, signifying its enduring importance to the history of film. His other award-winning films
include Stevie, which won numerous festivals and landed on a dozen ten best lists for 2003; the
miniseries The New Americans, winner of the 2004 IDA Award for The Best Limited Series; The
War Tapes, which James produced and edited, and won the Tribeca Film Festival Grand Prize in
2006; At the Death House Door, which won numerous awards at festivals such as Full Frame, DOC
AVIV, DOCNZ, and Atlanta and was nominated for a Directors Guild of America Award; and No
Crossover: The Trial of Allen Iverson for ESPN’s Peabody and IDA award-winning “30 for 30”
series, for which James’ film was selected for the prestigious American Documentary Showcase in
2011. James’ most recent film, The Interrupters, is his fifth film to premiere at the Sundance Film
Festival, and was a hit on the festival circuit where it garnered the Grand Jury Prizes at the Sheffield Film Festival, Miami Film
Festival, and Minneapolis Film Festival, and a Special Jury Prize at Full Frame. It took the two top Cinema Eye Awards for
“Nonfiction Feature Filmmaking” & “Best Direction” and is nominated for an Indie Spirit Award. The Interrupters was listed on
many “2011 Best Films of the Year” lists including Time, The New Yorker, Chicago Tribune, Boston Globe, Slate, and the LA
Times, and was named “Best Documentary of the year” in both the IndieWire and Village Voice national critics polls.
Questions for Discussion - The Interrupters
• While watching The Interrupters, did you find any similarities between the neighborhood in
Chicago and your own community, city or country?
• How has violence affected your life personally? How do you respond when you are witness to an
escalation of violence?
• Violence in mainstream films, television shows, news programming, video games, music and
YouTube videos has become increasingly graphic and prevalent over the last two decades. Do you
think that this global increase in violent imagery has made your society more violent?
• The Violence Interrupters leverage mediation skills, cultural knowledge and street credibility to
gain the respect and confidence of people in conflict. Could someone with mediation training but
without a similar background and experience be as effective as the Interrupters?
• What unique role can women play in conflict mediation?
• Many of the Interrupters and the people they help trace their descent into criminal behavior at
least in part to their problematic or absent relationships with their fathers. Why do you think the
father-child relationship is such a prevalent factor in this issue?
Is that a factor in your own
community or country?
• For Cobe, Ameena and Eddie, being an Interrupter is about more than just stopping fights; it is
about interrupting the status quo and making a positive difference in their community. What does
being an Interrupter mean to you? In what ways have you acted as an Interrupter in your
community?