December 15, 2011 9:26 pm
We are delighted and honored to see The Interrupters cited by a number of top film critics as one of the best films of 2011. But now we need you to let your voice be heard and help us out by voting for the film as the 2012 Cinema Eye Honors Audience Choice Award for Nonfiction Film. Please vote here and help us win this award so more people hear about the film!
The Interrupters was named the Best Documentary of the Year by Michael Dunaway in Paste Magazine.
Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune put it at #5 for the year for all films and said the film "in many ways, exceeds the reach of Hoop Dreams."
Time Out Chicago film critics Ben Kenigsberg and A.A. Dowd both recognized The Interrupters as 2011's Best Documentary, placing the film at #3 and #10 on their respective lists of the year's best films. "Steve James’s moving, multifaceted documentary on CeaseFire’s fearless violence interrupters changes the way you see urban violence, Chicago and, indeed, city life in general", wrote Kenigsberg, while Dowd stated: "the word important gets thrown around a lot when talking about movies. The year’s best documentary earns it." The film is also a nominee for Best Documentary in the Chicago Film Critics Association Awards, and placed 3rd on the Dallas Film Critics Association list.
Dana Stevens, film critic for Slate, also placed The Interrupters in her top 10 films of the year, calling it, "an exemplary piece of both reportage and nonfiction filmmaking. It’s an unblinking look at the unstable third-world nation that exists at the heart of every American city: a place full of lawlessness and fear, yes, but also of great acts of courage and forgiveness."
Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly will place the film at #9 on her list of the year's best films (not yet available online).
The Onion AV Club critics placed the film at #14 on their list of the year's best, describing it as "a heartbreaking look at some of the causes of systemic inner-city violence, and some of the people working toward a solution."
Moviefone stated, "to call this documentary a real-life 'Wire' would be doing a disservice to how important it really is," placing the film at #34 on the year's best list.
The Atlantic Magazine, with a twist on traditional categories, called The Interrupters the "Best Trend-Buster of the Year", noting the film's anti-violence message in a year of more Hollywood action shoot'em ups. NPR's Monkey See blog also listed the films as one of the year's best documentaries.
For his Reel Politik blog on IndieWIRE, Anthony Kaufman listed the film as one of the Top 11 Political Movies of 2011, writing: "Steve James' harrowing and humanistic examination of inner-city violence took me closer to the lives of people so far away from my own than any movie I can remember. I must have cried a half-dozen times during the course of the movie. James captures so many sudden moments of emotional intensity, laid totally bare for the audience to completely empathize with the characters."
In the UK, where the film is now available on DVD, three different critics - Michael Brooke, Matthew Thrift, and Nick Bradshaw - mentioned the film in their top 5 lists for Sight & Sound magazine's end of year poll. The film also came in 35th on Total Film's 50 Best Movies of 2011 - the 2nd highest place for a documentary - and was cited as one the year's "standout US indies" by Tim Robey in The Telegraph.
Film Comment's annual year-end survey of critics saw the film place at #26 for the year (the 3rd highest documentary).
Opening today in Chicago! "2011's Must-see Movie" (The Chicago Reporter).
The Gene Siskel Film Center hosts The Interrupters from today, Friday, December 16th until Thursday Dec 22nd. The week-long engagment will be the film's third run at Film Center, where it holds the box office record. Interrupters will be attending the screenings. Get tickets here.
Fri, Dec 16th at 8:00pm
Sat, Dec 17th at 6:00pm & 8:30pm
Sun, Dec 18th at 5:30pm
Tue, Dec 20th at 6:00pm & 8:30pm
Wed, Dec 21st at 8:30pm
Thu, Dec 22nd at 6:00pm & 8:30pm
For a full list of where The Interrupters is screening next, visit theinterrupters.com.