Church brings film of chronic violence to Batavia
The 2011 documentary “The Interrupters” will be shown at 8:30 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 21, at the Randall 15 IMAX Theater, 550 N. Randall Road, Batavia. Tickets must be reserved in advance through socialjusticechair@uusg.org.
From Steve James, the acclaimed director of “Hoop Dreams” and Alex Kotlowitz, author of the best-selling “There are No Children Here,” this film is an unusually intimate journey into the stubborn persistence of violence in our cities.
The film was an Official Selection for the Sundance Film Festival 2011, and it won the best documentary awards at the Miami International and Minneapolis film festivals.
This film tells the moving and surprising story of three dedicated individuals who try to protect their Chicago communities from the violence they themselves once employed. These “violence interrupters” (their job title) — who have credibility on the street because of their own personal histories — intervene in conflicts before the incidents explode into violence. Their work and insights are informed by their own journeys.
Ricardo “Cobe” Williams, who is featured in the film, will be present for a question-and-answer reception in the theater lobby immediately following the screening. Williams had a tough childhood growing up in Englewood; his father was murdered when Wiliams was 11. Between 1993 and 2004, Williams spent three stints in prison, for drug-related charges and for attempted murder.
When CeaseFire lost funding in 2007, he continued to work at his job without pay until his position was restored seven months later. He has worked for CeaseFire for about five years. Williams, his wife and four children now live in a far western suburb.
Showing this film is made possible in part by the support of state Rep. Linda Chapa LaVia and ComEd. Chapa LaVia and CeaseFire director Tio Hardiman will both be present, as will students invited from local high schools.
The film is part of the free monthly film series sponsored by the Social Justice Committee of the Unitarian Universalist Society of Geneva.
The public is encouraged to register at content.uusg.org/friday-flicks/ to receive email notices of future programs.