‘Baltimore Rising’ is a 2017 documentary on the protests in Baltimore after the death of Freddie Gray. It was created, directed, and produced by actor and filmmaker Sonja Sohn and HBO Films. Baltimore Rising covers the death of Freddie Gray, the protests and riots immediately following, efforts to keep the peace during the unsuccessful prosecutions of the six police officers involved, as well as efforts to change policing by both the Maryland General Assembly and the US Department of Justice. It includes segments covering the perspective of Black Lives Matter protesters, community leaders, and members of the Baltimore Police Department.
Among the protesters, it focuses on Kwame Rose and Makayla Gilliam-Price, two young (17-20 years old) activists. Among community leaders, the documentary shows Adam Jackson and Dayvon Love, members of the group Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle. Among the police, Baltimore Rising includes Lt. Colonel Melvin Russell, head of a community affairs program in the BPD; Dawnyell Taylor, the lead police investigator into the death of Gray; and interim police commissioner Kevin Davis, who came to his position shortly after Gray’s death.
We caught up with director Sonja Sohn, to talk working with HBO again, The Wire and the current civil rights movement. Check out our interview after the jump.
The Knockturnal: How did you link up with HBO on this project?
Sonja Sohn: Well, I mean obviously I’d done The Wire. The executive producers, George Pelecanos, Anthony Hemingway, and Mark Taylor, even Marc Levine they all have relationships at HBO. They’ve all been involved in projects at HBO since The Wire ended. I was vetting this idea and wanted to get some honest feedback about it with these guys and we all agreed that HBO is the first place we should probably take the film.
The Knockturnal: You mention Mark Levine, talk about working with these huge legends in the game.
Sonja Sohn: Oh, yeah, you know I gotta say I was really moved and taken aback by surprise at the outset. At the outset I didn’t think I was going to direct this documentary. I thought I was going to produce it. I knew that I knew the cast very well and I knew I probably had a lot of the trust from half the cast already built. I knew the city very well, the story etc. But I was not a director. Mark Levine was a documentary director and Anthony Hemingway is a director. So I assumed I wasn’t the director when it got down to the point of identifying who would direct it and I heard someone say “you’re directing it.” When we had a conference call and I went well, Mark or Anthony and Mark was like “I can’t direct it. I have a number of projects already at HBO already slated this year.” And Anthony was at the time working, about to start The People Vs. O.J. The entire next six months was taken up. So that’s when Mark said, “Sonja you have to direct it.” “You know the story, you know the people.” Then we had a conversation about that and all of them agreed that I could do it. Mark said he had supported a number of first time filmmakers in the process and he assured the rest of the team that whatever was needed I had, he’d have my back and that’s how we got here. They believed that I could do it. And that’s how I directed the film, I trusted their expertise. They all participated and created and developed amazing projects on their own. They all have a sense of clarity and purpose and commitment to quality in their work and integrity in their work. Which is why these are some of the people that I go to see back on a regular basis. I think it’s important to have those kind of folks around you. Filmmaking is a collaborative effort even if you’re a director. It’s a team effort and to have folks around to be your sounding board to show you where you might be a little behind, is really critical. And I was fortunate to have what I feel is some of the best people in the story telling game. Whether it’s directing, producing or writing.
The Knockturnal: You’ve done amazing work in front of the camera and now behind the camera, with such a sensitive subject, were you nervous about this being one of your first forays behind the camera?
Sonja Sohn: Sure, I was nervous. Yeah, I was nervous. Absolutely. I wouldn’t say I was like … You know I wasn’t quaking in my boots or anything. It was such a vision, such a clear vision that was coming through. The way the project came together, yes, there’s a feeling, a thought. Because we can have goals and visions and dreams and plans all day long and your mother and father say we just have these plans and you just have to do every day, you have to follow all these directions because, blah, blah, blah, And you’re going to achieve your goals. And you’re going to execute this plan. And I see what you going to like you but that’s not quite true. Like some things happen to you along the way you realize you’re not built for some things. You might have to change the plan. You don’t develop this sense of knowing what yes feels like, and what no feels like, you’re going to have rough and tumble time of it, get beat up a little bit. So what I’m saying to you is at the outset as I came back to Baltimore and I was just picking up on … it happened at the time that Freddie Grey incident happened at a time where I was obsessing how I was going continue my commitment here in Baltimore. And I was really looking at what strategies were working and not working and how to be more impactful in Baltimore. So, when I came back and that was part of the process, with a strategic planning process with my organization and board. At any rate, of course it was like a personal soul journey into that arena that I need to take as well. Long story a little shorter when I came back to the city.
The Knockturnal: How do you feel about the current civil rights movement and where we’re headed and how important is it for the youth to participate in that?
Sonja Sohn: Okay. Current civil rights movement, you know I’m sure there’s some differences but I think that certainly social media has impacted specific engagement to a great degree. Some in powerful ways and sometimes in my mind undercutting ways. People get caught up in the hoops of simply just tweeting and talking and facebooking. Not that that’s not important because that is a thread that is necessary. It keeps the world, the global community engaged in whatever change seeking activities they may be connected to. However, a great deal of the work is actually work. And so nothing like young folks doing the social media piece, because they’re in school, they’re in training they’re getting on their feet. I love them getting on the streets.
The Knockturnal: What do you hope is the biggest take away after people see this film?
Sonja Sohn: Hmm, I think the biggest take away, I mean honestly I make art … Even though this is a documentary I consider this endeavor an artistic creative endeavor. I really believe in creating something and then walking away from it. Because I think a part of the creation of the project, the piece of art is not simply what you intended to put in it. In this world the material has to speak to you, people aren’t puppets this isn’t a narrative world, right? So it’s a constant engagement with the thing itself with the people, with the story with my own perception that was constantly getting twisted and shaped as I was going along. Just as you’re getting … If when watching it you are going with the twist and turns simply viewing it, you can imagine what I was going through as it was all happening before my eyes. Sometimes I would have to recalibrate my own perspective to stay as in the moment and as objective as possible. So that the camera could just capture what was there, and not what I wanted to be there or anything like that. So to say that I want, that there is one thing that I want you to take away from it, for me, kind of contingent upon your freedom to just have your own thoughts about that. I don’t want to identify that. The biggest take away is your biggest take away.
The Knockturnal: It’s good, it’s fine, I felt empowered.
Sonja Sohn: It’s going to make you, if it’s going to touch you whenever it touches you and you’re like, “oh, wow, oh, I’m conflicted about this, oh I didn’t expect that. Now I got to think harder about this.” See, that’s the biggest take away, that’s what I want to happen right there. But if I identify what that is, then I sort limit it, right? Because we’re unique people, unique individuals, right? Everybody’s take away will be the biggest take away.