UC Berkeley filmmakers to screen Richmond crime documentary
By Robert Rogers
Contra Costa Times
Posted:   08/20/2013 06:17:55 AM PDT | Updated:   69 min. ago

RICHMOND -- Two UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism filmmakers on Thursday will debut their short documentary chronicling Richmond's multifaceted approach to quelling local violence. The free screening will be at 7 p.m. at the East Bay Center for the Performing Arts at 339 11th St.
Titled "A Confused War," the 26-minute film probes generational neighborhood strife and the city's relatively successful efforts toward reducing violent crime in recent years. The title refers to a phrase used by a young man in the film to articulate the sometimes inscrutable web of geographic rivalries in the city, many of which go back decades.
The camera follows police officers, anti-violence activists, social workers and young men struggling to leave behind lives of gunplay and senseless rivalries.
The filmmakers, Mariel Waloff and Rachel Waldholz, are East Coast natives who came to UC Berkeley and grew fascinated with Richmond and its stories of innovative public safety programs.
The film is their 2013 thesis project.
The screening will be followed by question-and-answer sessions with the filmmakers and several of the people featured in the film.
Contact Robert Rogers at 510-262-2726 or rrogers@bayareanewsgroup.com. Follow him at Twitter.com/roberthrogers.