Dispatches From Cleveland

Directed by Catherine Gund. DISPATCHES FROM CLEVELAND is a feature-length documentary in five parts that closely examines the early 21st century, rust-belt city of Cleveland, Ohio, one of the most racially divided cities in America, in the wake of the police murder of 12-year-old Tamir Rice. The film follows ordinary people - long shaken by police misconduct, social discrimination, and poverty - whose love for their home pushes them to work together to bring about real change. "I didn't ask to be a leader," Samaria Rice explains, but "they made me a leader when they killed my son." Samaria is referring to the death of her 12-year-old son, Tamir, at the hands of the Cleveland police department in November 2014. The case received national attention, and the country watched as Prosecutor Timothy McGinty refused to hold police accountable and indict the police officer who shot young Tamir. Samaria continues, "Prosecutor McGinty didn't advocate for me and he covered up for the officers." This case, and the pushback from the prosecutor's office, galvanized the citizens of Cleveland to band together to successfully unseat him in the next election. Also available as as an episodic series on DVD, DISPATCHES FROM CLEVELAND was recently featured at the Cleveland International Film Festival, Minneapolis Film Festival, Frameline Film Festival, and Chicago's Injustice For All Film Festival where it won a Special Recognition Award for Feature Films.