SOUTH MAIN (Documentary)

Chicago Filmmakers – Saturday, 8pm
When a public housing project in South Central Los Angeles is shuttered due to gang violence, the law-abiding residents find themselves displaced. Director Kelly Parker shows the story of three such families and their struggles with the transition to life in Section 8 housing in 2005. A fiancé who is killed in a drive-by-shooting the night before the move and increased bills that leave the family closer to poverty are the content of the stories told here, but the style is what makes this film original. In a departure from cinéma vérité, the camera remains mostly static—save for the handheld shots taken by the family members—and the filmmaker is content to let the matriarch of each family directly address the camera for extended monologues. Although this strategy is not always successful, sometimes drawing more attention to the presence of the camera than is necessary, Parker ultimately benefits from her minimal production scale and the familiarity with her subjects that it allows. Additionally, the intentional stylistic choice of allowing the camera to be a presence rather than an extension of the filmmaker works to keep the film from becoming a sweeping statement about poverty, and privileges the individual stories that it tells. (2008, 77 min, DVD) JH - Cine-File.info