Our America (2002)

The true story of two African-American teen radio reporters and their documentary investigation of a notorious child murder.

Director:

Ernest R. Dickerson (as Ernest Dickerson)

Writers:

LeAlan Jones (book), Lloyd Newman (book)

Stars:

Josh Charles, Brandon Hammond, Serena Lee

5 wins & 8 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Josh Charles	...	Dave Isay
Brandon Hammond	...	Lloyd "Boo" Newman
Serena Lee	...	Janelle Jones
Roderick Pannell	...	LeAlan Jones
Irma P. Hall	...	June Jones
Peter Paige	...	Gary Covino
Vanessa Williams	...	Sandra Williams (as Vanessa A. Williams)
Mykelti Williamson	...	Graham Ellis
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Rukiya Bernard	...	Sophie Newman
K.C. Collins	...	James (as Chris Collins)
Neil Crone	...	Paxton Wade
Jordan Duncan	...	Eric Morris
Daniel Farris	...	Elvin
Jordan Francis	...	Derrick Morris
Maxine Guess	...	Mrs. Shaw

Storyline

Based on a true story, "Our America" is a stark portrait of the urban ghetto landscape as seen through the eyes of two young African-American teens, LeAlan Jones and Lloyd Newman. Under a radio producer's guidance and mentoring, the boys create a disturbing and remarkable documentary about life in the ghettos.

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Plot Keywords:

reporter | radio | teenager | radio reporter | ghetto | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language and some violent content

Did You Know?

Trivia

Brandon Hammond and Irma P. Hall played grandson and grandmother in the film Soul Food (1997), prior to this film.

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Quotes

Dave Isay: You're my man!
Gary Covino: I know.

User Reviews

A thoughtful and insightful film

I was caught off guard by this film for the only person that I recognized in the cast was Peter Paige from Queer as Folk, he only plays a tiny role of public radio producer. Anyway this film is based on a true story of 2 adolescents from the housing projects of South Chicago that are asked to document their lives by a public radio station. The producer from the radio station is accused of exploiting the youths and tempers flare. The film is a harrowing and brutal portrait of life in the projects and how many residents there don't see much hope of improving their lives. While many detractors of the film will see that this film concentrates on the negatives there are several positive characters also. The character of LeAlan Jones and his family are beacons of hope. Overall I enjoyed this film.

Details

Country:

Canada USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 March 2003 (Norway)

Also Known As:

El ghetto

Filming Locations:

Chicago, Illinois, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Come Sunday Productions, Paramount Pictures, Showtime Networks

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Color:

Black and White Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1