Premieres Monday, Nov.25, 2024 at 11 p.m. on KPBS TV / PBS app
POV pulls back the curtain on local American politics to reveal what happens after an electoral victory and asks when does change begin in a city embroiled in a fight over justice and equity in the dynamic film, "The Body Politic."
The film is a harbinger of hope in a country plagued by gun violence. Brandon Scott, who grew up during Baltimore’s most troubling years and witnessed his first shooting as a child, sets out with dogged determination to free his beloved city from violence. In the midst of the George Floyd crisis, he becomes Baltimore’s first Millennial mayor.
Director Gabriel Francis Paz Goodenough's cameras follow Scott and his team of young leaders throughout their first year in city hall. He dutifully captures the mayor as he navigates press conferences, deals with a variety of political opponents, reacts to the trial of George Floyd’s killer and works with Baltimore’s residents and groups with a vested interest in healing their city.
The filmmakers are also present when Scott introduces an ambitious plan for violence reduction and police reform that he promises will lower the city’s murder rate. Pundits claim Scott’s political health and the city’s health are tied to the number 348 – the total murders Baltimore had the previous year, more homicides than NYC, a city 15 times its size.
After entering office and barely getting a chance to enact his first safety reforms, violence surges to new highs. As the media & political foes attack his comprehensive approach, his commitment to his plan and principles put his political future in jeopardy. Will his holistic approach lead to healing and serve as a blueprint for the rest of the nation?
Featured in "The Body Politic" along with Mayor Brandon Scott are local activists Erricka Bridgeford, Baltimore Peace Movement Leader, and Dante Johnson, Site Director, Baltimore Safe Streets who work with the mayor’s office on devising enterprising solutions to gun violence.
“Despite what people hear about Baltimore from the media, residents love this city and fight every day to find a better way to beat the disease of gun violence, over-policing and poverty,” said Brandon Scott, Mayor of Baltimore. “From a personal perspective, people have to see their elected officials as human. I have the same lived experiences as them, as a Baltimorean, and a regular son of the city; I just happen to be the mayor.”
Filmmaker Quotes:
“This film is the story of my home, the city where I was born and where I proudly continue to live,” said Director Gabriel Francis Paz Goodenough. “I am honored to have partnered with a group of talented Baltimore-based filmmakers with equally deep connections to the city to give a voice to a new story about our hometown. Like many areas in the United States, the City of Baltimore has been plagued by decades of gun violence. We began making this film in 2019 hoping to make an election film about several candidates in the mayoral race in which gun violence reduction was the central issue. With violence on the rise in the city at that time, it was unclear who would win the election."
“Soon after we began filming, George Floyd was murdered, and everything changed. This brutal murder altered the conscience of our country and changed many things, including the outcome of the mayoral election and the focus of our film. In the wake of the turmoil and systemic shift occurring in the country, a new generation of leadership was emerging. It was clear to us that the core of the story that needed to be told was the story of what happens after this new leadership is elected and gets into office. We wanted to see this all from inside local government, inside the system. We ended up making a story about the healing of our city, a film that hopefully serves as a pathway to healing for the rest of the nation.”
Watch On Your Schedule: "The Body Politic" will be available for streaming concurrently with broadcast on all station-branded PBS platforms and the PBS app, available on iOS, Android, Roku streaming devices, Apple TV, Android TV, Amazon Fire TV, Samsung Smart TV, Chromecast and VIZIO.
Additionally to standard closed captioning, POV partners with DiCapta for audio description services to provide real time audio or text interpretations for audiences with sensory disabilities. Films are accompanied by free educational resources, with many available for local screenings through POV’s Community Network digital lending library.
Film Review: “The Body Politic” is another great example of the new generation of politicians, young people who deeply care about their community, doing everything they can to improve it.”-Film Carnage
Film Awards: "The Body Politic" made its world premiere at the 2023 Sheffield DocFest where it was voted a “Top 10 Audience Favorite.” The film made its North American Premiere as a Spotlight Film at the 2023 DC/DOX Film Festival and its African Premiere at the 2023 Zanzibar International Film Festival where it received the “Chairperson’s Award for Feature Documentary.” The documentary won the “Audience Choice Award” at the 2023 Heartland International Film Festival, and was the Runner Up for the “Audience Award Winner Feature Documentary” at the 2023 Anchorage International Film Festival. Recently, the film won the Jury Award for “Best Documentary Feature,” was the 2nd Runner Up for “The Audience Award for Best Documentary, and director Gabriel Francis Paz Goodenough took home the “Emerging Filmmakers” Award at the 2024 Woods Hole Film Festival. The film was an official selection of numerous festivals including the 2023 New/Next Film Festival, 2023 Saint Louis International Film Festival, 2024 Big Sky Documentary Film Festival), 2024 Omaha Film Festival, 2024 Salem Film Fest, 2024 One World International Film Festival / jeden svět, and 2024 Movies That Matter Film Fest. In addition, the film was featured in the University of Wisconsin-Madison Havens Wright 2024 Social Cinema Series.
Credits: A co-production with ITVS, and a co-presentation with Black Public Media (BPM). The director is Gabriel Francis Paz Goodenough and the producers are Goodenough, Dawne Langford and John Benam. Cinematography and sound are by Gabriel Francis Paz Goodenough and John Benam, the editor is Thomas Niles, and the music composer is Caleb Stine. The executive producers are Rudy Valdez, Brock Williams, Jeffrey Pechter, Mark Grieco, Katy Chevigny, Marilyn Ness, Sally Jo Fifer, Erika Dilday and Chris White.
