WHOSE STREETS? – Review

This weekend sees the national debut of a documentary that addresses a topic still very much in the daily news, while also marking this particular incident’s third anniversary. On August 9, 2014 Michael Brown, an unarmed 18 year-old man was shot and killed by a police officer during the course of an arrest. For over three months the story dominated national news and was the subject of many special TV news channel reports and newspaper and magazine articles. Now comes a feature-length documentary that follows several members of the protest movements and incorporates multiple footage of those chaotic nights in Ferguson, Missouri. This village became a symbol of the racial divide rampant in cities all across the United States. Much of it boils down to the film’s title, a debate over “ownership” of this town. Does the neighborhood “belong” to the residents or to the police, that’s the question posed by WHOSE STREETS?.

The film picks up just moments from the fatal altercation as an apartment resident near Canfield Drive, David Whitt, describes the reaction on the street. Whitt also details his role as a recorder of evidence for the civilian “watchdog” group Cop Watch (he’s got several devices at the ready at all times). We also meet several other community leaders and organizers, like Hands Up United’s co-founder Tory Russell, who becomes a voice for those seeking answers. And there are several others profiled including single working mother Britanny Russell, who is inspired into fervent action and becomes an articulate advocate for her neighborhood. We’re brought right into the rallies and protests, and we’re there on those streets during those hot Summer nights when police responded with military grade weapons, as businesses are torched and looted. Cell phones capture videos of tear gas canisters being fired into crowds. Several interviewed subjects detail their encounters with law enforcement and outline a strategy to call attention to the unrest. This culminates with the big grand jury announcement in November and the rioting that ensued. As the film concludes we’re given a look at demonstrations around the country (and the world) over the Brown case and several very similar recent police shooting cases.

In their feature debut, directors Sabaah Folayan and Damon Davis have sifted through hours of footage to bring together an intimate glimpse of an event we thought we knew well enough. There’s the sweep of the big confrontations, but also the human edge as we see the face of an African-American police woman while protesters try to reach out to her with pointed questions. Folayan and Davis also try to zero in on the individuals with mixed results. Britanny’s story,of her activism, is compelling, but her romance and nuptials seem to take the focus aware from the main subject. Perhaps it’s to show how life does go on during a time of turmoil, though it seems to be from a different film. Luckily the film makers had great access to media coverage, with many segments from local TV stations and national cable outlets (and many moments with then President Obama commenting on the situation during press conferences). There’s no narrator, no graphic computer work (flashy charts and recreations), nor a soundtrack that hammers in a message. We do get the “talking head” interviews, but they are used sparingly. Some are startling, as when one subject believes that the destruction of community businesses is a completely acceptable means of protest (at least she deplores violence against people or groups). Others are frustrating as the leaders of the newly formed action groups show disdain for those from the civil rights movements of the past. Though it offers no easy solutions, WHOSE STREETS? shines a bright light on how cities can turn into war zones when its citizens are minimized.

3.5 out of 5