Charm City

Baltimore’s Eastern District is best known as the setting of HBO’s fictional series The Wire, but to its inhabitants, high unemployment, drug use, and poverty are all too real. In Marilyn Ness’ intimate, often heart-wrenching documentary, we meet the community leaders, police officers, and city council members who are trying to stem the tide of violence that has engulfed the city in recent years. Clayton “Mr. C” Guyton runs the Rose Street Community Center, providing services the city can’t (or won’t), while his protégé Alex Long coaches kickboxing for kids. Although Alex calls the community a place with “too much police and not enough justice,” the police officers we meet act as social workers, marriage counselors, and more, while Councilman Brandon Scott advocates a holistic approach to the “disease” of gun violence. The humanity of these individuals, who clearly care deeply about their community, offers hope in a place that has little to spare.

Expected Guests: Director Marilyn Ness; Film Subject Alex Long (All Screenings)