Uprising: Hip Hop and the LA Riots

Mark Ford:
Uprising: Hip Hop and the LA Riots (USA, 2012)
66 min. - English
age limit 16 years

In 1992, Los Angeles was on fire. The assault of Rodney King was the last straw �€“ it made the people, mistreated by the police, take up arms. The insightful film Uprising: Hip Hop & The LA Riots discusses the connection between hip hop and the LA Riots. Did Fuck the Police by N.W.A., dealing with the tension between the black community and the authorities, predict the tragic events? Or was the song actually a catalyst to the city bursting to flames? How should Body Count�€�s Cop Killer be listened to, knowing the amount of casualties caused by the riots? And above all, did anything change because of what happened?

Mark Ford�€�s detailed documentary answers these important questions concerning hip hop and civil rights through comprehensive material. The director has gathered a great deal of, from time to time harsh, news footage and archive materials of the events and combined the zeitgeist with outspoken interviews from names such as the late Rodney King, rappers Ice-T and Dr. Dre and director John Singleton. The narrator in the film is Snoop Dogg (nowadays known as Snoop Lion), who actually took part in the riots.

These events from twenty years ago still evoke strong feelings and memories. Indeed the LA riots, especially the reasons behind them, are not to be forgotten. Some see the riots as a historical battle for civil rights whereas others claim them to be merely a violent crime wave. Uprising: Hip Hop & the LA Riots, both touchingly and declaratorily, presents the riots as well as their background and reasons. The film, which is filled with urban hip hop, is also a potent example of the power of music and its role as the mouthpiece of alternative truths.

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Sat 17th Nov at 8:00pm Tapio 4