Portrait of a Place: Southside Forever—A Motion Picture of Black Chicago

'In a compassionate documentary on one district’s battle against violent crime, director Rodney Lucas illustrates life and death in his hometown of Chicago. Featuring the voices of community champions and activists, “this project is a reclamation of black narrativization,” the South Side Chicago native comments. Lucas entrusts the heart of his film to the city’s residents who have often had to tolerate sensationalist or demeaning narratives promulgated by the media. Working with directors of photography Kassim Norris and Brenton Oeschle, Lucas is able to “creatively humanize the plight and delicate rawness that makes Southsiders one of the most resilient tribes in the fight against systematic oppression,” the filmmaker explains.'-- NOWNESS