Father Pfleger

NBA star Joakim Noah of the Chicago Bulls was first introduced to Cobe Williams when he watched The Interrupters. The son of a tennis player and a supermodel, Noah grew up with opportunity and wealth, but his heart made him reach out to Cobe. “After seeing The Interrupters, he got my number and asked how he could help,” Williams explained. “He’s from New York City, but he loves Chicago and was disturbed by the news of all the youth violence that’s been going on.”

CeaseFire, the Chicago organization profiled in the award-winning Kartemquin documentary The Interrupters, will now be known as Cure Violence.

A new blog post and video from founder and executive director Gary Slutkin explain the re-branding as part of an effort to create "a movement of people who understand violence is a disease." You can find more information at www.cureviolence.org.

The move reflects the increased global focus of the organization and wider acceptance of their strategy for treating violence as a disease, something which the success of The Interrupters has helped spread. Read more about the film's impact so far.