| Session 11 Saturday June 10, 2006 12:45PM TO 2:45PM Mass Art 621 Huntington Avenue Boston |
Trench Town (52 min)
Trench Town, Kingston 12, is the most famous ghetto in
the World. Immortalized in the music of Bob Marley it is
now one of the most dangerous and violent places on the
planet. With a population of around 25,000 there can be
up to ten murders in a week. A virtual civil war has
broken out as heavily armed rival gangs are fighting for
control of the area. Today Trench Town is crumbling.
The children sleep and study under their beds at night
for fear of bullets coming in through the thin walls of their
simple homes. Their journeys to school can be fatal as
they cross rival gangs’ borderlines. There are many
innocent victims caught in the crossfire. Originally built as
a government housing project in 1945, Trench Town was
decimated by the political war that marred the 1976
general Elections. Sandwiched between two different
political strongholds, it was a victim of its location. It was
the politicians who first armed the gang leaders or
“Dons” in return for the vote. The legacy this left is of a
violent culture that is impossible to police and where
murder is commonplace. This film examines how the
ordinary citizens survive in such extreme circumstances.
We talk to a complete cross section of the community in
this moving testimony to the courage of the community in
its daily battle for survival.
DIRECTOR, James Ewart,
PRODUCER, Anders Palm, James Ewart
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Anders Palm
Trench Town, Kingston 12, is the most famous ghetto in
the World. Immortalized in the music of Bob Marley it is
now one of the most dangerous and violent places on the
planet. With a population of around 25,000 there can be
up to ten murders in a week. A virtual civil war has
broken out as heavily armed rival gangs are fighting for
control of the area. Today Trench Town is crumbling.
The children sleep and study under their beds at night
for fear of bullets coming in through the thin walls of their
simple homes. Their journeys to school can be fatal as
they cross rival gangs’ borderlines. There are many
innocent victims caught in the crossfire. Originally built as
a government housing project in 1945, Trench Town was
decimated by the political war that marred the 1976
general Elections. Sandwiched between two different
political strongholds, it was a victim of its location. It was
the politicians who first armed the gang leaders or
“Dons” in return for the vote. The legacy this left is of a
violent culture that is impossible to police and where
murder is commonplace. This film examines how the
ordinary citizens survive in such extreme circumstances.
We talk to a complete cross section of the community in
this moving testimony to the courage of the community in
its daily battle for survival.
DIRECTOR, James Ewart,
PRODUCER, Anders Palm, James Ewart
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Anders Palm
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