by Christina Marie » June 22nd, 2006, 12:48 am
Festival honors ex-gang-banger's documentary
By OLU ALEMORU, The Independent Staff Writer 21.JUN.06
A hard hitting documentary made by a former gang-banger was honored on the last night of the 2006 Hollywood Black Film Festival.
“Bastards of the Party,” directed by Cle “Bone” Sloan and produced by “Training Day” director, Antoine Fuqua, traces the notorious Bloods and Crips gangs in South Los Angeles.
Sloan, 34, a member of the Athens Park division of the Bloods, began exploring the history of the two gangs while serving a jail term on a murder rap.
Following his release, he enrolled in the Jim Brown Amer-I-Can program, a self-esteem-building organization that operates in inner cities and prisons.
After meeting Fuqua and appearing in “Training Day,” Sloan went on to work as a camera assistant and second-unit director, later convincing Fuqua to back the project.
Examining five decades of gang violence in southern California, the film shows how the Crips and the Bloods, the so-called bastard children of the radical 60’s Black Panther Party, came into being.
The documentary chronicles the rise of the Crips, who came about in the late 60’s in order to fight racist white gangs.
Then, after a high-profile murder in 1972 led several black neighborhoods to hate the Crips, the Bloods formed to keep the rival gang at bay.
“I’m touched and honored that people have come out to support the film,” said Sloan after receiving the award.
“I wanted to show what this madness represents and by getting out the real truth we can start the dialogue to end it.”
The ceremony was held at the Fine Arts Theater in Beverly Hills, and the awards were presented by Corey Reynolds and Gina Ravera, who both star in hit TNT series, “The Closer.”
The full HBFF 2006 Jury Winners:
Feature Film
Winner: RESTRAINING ORDER written and directed by Reggie Gaskins, produced by Paula D. Ferguson.
Honorable Mention: LOST IN PLAINVIEW written, directed and produced by Eric Chambers.
Short Film
Winner: THE NUMBERS written and directed by Leigh Dana Jackson and produced by Sarah Bynum.
Honorable Mention: RITCH written and directed by Sharon Lewis, produced by Kerry Young.
Documentary Film:
Winner: BASTARDS OF THE PARTY
Student Film:
Winner: SNAPSHOT written by John Cruz, directed by Kevin Coleman and produced by Brian Armes.
Honorable Mention: A CHANGE IS GONNA COME written and directed by Valerie Kemp, produced by Justin Catron.
Audience Choice Award
Winner: TRACI TOWNSEND written and produced by Bobby Thompson and directed by Craig Ross Jr.
"In times of universal deceit, telling the truth will be a revolutionary act." George Orwell