Coming to NYC’s Maysles Cinema as part of a Marc Levin Masterclass series this Saturday, December 7: GANG WAR: BANGIN’ IN LITTLE ROCK and BACK IN THE HOOD: GANG WAR II
Marc Levin’s 1994 exploration of unexpected gang violence in Arkansas and its 2004 follow-up both screened on HBO.
Levin’s first look at Little Rock shocked viewers, demonstrating how gangs like the Bloods, Crips, and Folk had spread from their original bases of Los Angeles, New York, and Chicago to the center of the country, attracting a multi-racial membership of disaffected youth. As pointed out more than once in the first doc, the year before it aired Little Rock saw its per capita murder rate surpass those larger cities. Levin follows the city’s coroner, Steve Nawojczyk, as he tries to curb the violence by confronting gangbangers with photos of the many youths he’s had to tend to in his job, and, simply, by listening to them – even as he risks his own life, as when he’s caught by happenstance here in the middle of a drive-by shooting. A ceasefire negotiation between rival gangs offers a hopeful end to the original doc, but, a decade later, with violence once again on the rise, Levin returns. The sequel focuses on Leifel Jackson, the former head of the Crips featured in the previous film, as he adjusts to life back in Little Rock after serving time. Determined to stay out of prison to care for his family, he volunteers for school programs with former rivals to speak frankly about gang life and to persuade kids to stay out of it. Others that Levin checks back in on haven’t fared as well, or see no legitimate recourse to the drug trade in a troubled economy, and have remained in the life. While Jackson serves as a compelling guide, it’s disappointing that the follow-up failed to profile members of the other gangs featured in the first film, whose non-stereotypical racial and gender make-up proved especially intriguing.
what (not) to doc 