Coming to PBS’s America ReFramed series tonight, Tuesday, February 17: SHELL SHOCKED
John Richie’s exploration of the impact of gun violence on New Orleans’ youth has been showcased at community screenings in Louisiana and around the country since 2013. It has also played at regional film festivals such as Myrtle Beach, Connecticut, and Trenton.
Inspired to take action by the disturbingly high murder and violence rates in New Orleans, and the corresponding growth of hopelessness and fatalism among the city’s youth, Richie and his crew set out to find examples of positive solutions. Speaking to community leaders, activists, program coordinators, and, most affectingly, the mothers of young victims, the filmmakers humanize the statistics, and present models that offer alternatives to the dangers of the street, from a small video production house that uses satire to spread more positive messages to youth programs designed to keep at-risk youth off the streets. Even more importantly, Richie trains his camera on several teenagers, who are encouraged to speak frankly about their day-to-day confrontations with violence, death, police harassment, and futility, providing a space for their perspectives to be heard. While the film’s survey approach lends it a scattershot feel, its intent remains welcome, injecting a sense of hope, attention, and concern in an otherwise often overwhelmingly grim reality.
what (not) to doc 