This year marks the 25th anniversary of the Los Angles riots. LA 92 is the latest project by Academy Award winning directors Dan Lindsay and T.J. Martin. The film premiered here at The Tribeca Film Festival just a few days ago and examines the watershed events that lit the fuse of that explosive moment in our nation’s history.
Lindsay and Martin open the film using archival footage from the 1965 Watts riots to draw a parallel to the ’92 LA riots. Remove the imagery that give away the time periods of 1965 and 1992 and we might as well be watching present day events. It is astonishing to see the way government and media approached both situations in ’65 and ’92 almost identically. On the one hand you are floored, but on the other, it makes sense. As Martin said,
…the story being told is the same, regardless of time…and that conversation isn’t leading to any solutions.
That story of course is the inequality and injustice based on race and class so deeply embedded in the fabric of this nation. In my conversations with the directors, they talked about the importance of letting the archival footage tell the story, and exploring themes. One theme in particular is the cyclical nature of our society.
The other major takeaway is the power of film as a medium. As previously mentioned the film uses only archival footage. What stands out in the presentation of the film is the way Lindsay and Martin allow the archives to “do the work.” There is something visceral when you watch the camcorder footage of Rodney King being beaten by the LA police officers, or when you see the white truck driver dragged out of the cab and beaten bloody. While both were abhorrent and primal, the sequence of events and how they were depicted via imagery leaves you with questions about humanity.
During our interview I asked both men about the power of film as a medium.
LA 92 will have its broadcast premiere on the National Geographic channel this Sunday April 30th. It is a fascinating piece of filmmaking and shouldn’t be missed. My thanks to Dan Lindsay and T.J. Martin for spending some time with BSO at the Tribeca Film Festival.
Flip the page to see a trailer from the film.