Peace in the Absence of War (Baltimore 4/27/15 - 5/2/15)
2015 · 5m · USA
Directed by Theo Anthony
Genres: documentary, experimental
Tones: contemplative, melancholic, tense
A documentary short capturing the intersection of a Baltimore Symphony Orchestra peace concert and the civil unrest following Freddie Gray's death in police custody, filmed during the days of April-May 2015 protests and citywide curfew.
Picked by Zoe
The scouts
Anthony made this days after Freddie Gray died and it already shows the moral restraint that would define Rat Film — he refuses to let the BSO concert be the healing metaphor. That's a harder, better editorial choice than almost anyone else would have made.
Theo Anthony filming the Baltimore Symphony's peace concert against Freddie Gray protests, no narration. That's a hard piece of journalism with a high failure rate, and Anthony has the discipline for it.
Theo Anthony places the BSO peace concert and the Freddie Gray protests in the same frame without editorial comment, and the juxtaposition does the work — Wiseman's observational discipline applied to a city in fracture.