Let It Fall: Los Angeles 1982–1992 is a 2017 American documentary film directed by John Ridley about the decade preceding and including the 1992 Los Angeles riots (also known as the Rodney King riots). A shorter version aired on ABC on April 28, 2017. Judah Ben-Hur, a prince falsely accused of treason by his adopted brother, an officer in the Roman army, returns to his homeland after years at sea to seek revenge, but finds redemption. Directed by Richard Di Lello, David C. Johnson, Alex Munoz. Promising "the ultimate in authentic storytelling," as well as a "unique and immersive approach," the film features no interviews or recreations - just the story as captured by video cameras and media reports at the time. The riots, which followed the acquittal by a white jury of four police officers who were videotaped beating black motorist Rodney King, caused the death of 55 people, thousands of injuries and close to $1 billion in damage. Viewed from a multitude of vantage points through visceral and rarely seen archival footage, the film brings a fresh perspective to a pivotal moment that reverberates to this day. [6], Because the full-length film played in theaters and a shorter version played on television, on May 10, 2017, Variety reported that the film's producers chose not to submit the TV version for the Primetime Emmy Awards, and would instead focus resources on an Academy Award campaign. Directed by John Ridley. In 2007, Ridley was approached by Spike Lee to make a scripted, narrative film about the riots;[2] with Brian Grazer producing, principal photography was set to begin in the spring of 2016. View production, box office, & company info. [5] They approached Ridley to direct, and on December 16, 2016, Deadline Hollywood reported that the documentary was underway. Neighborhoods and cities in Greater Los Angeles that receive specific focus in the film include South Central Los Angeles, Pacoima, Alhambra, Westwood, Koreatown, and Simi Valley. Additionally, a limited theatrical release in New York and Los Angeles begins Friday, April 28, and "LA 92" makes its television broadcast debut on National Geographic on Sunday, April 30, at 9/8c and will also air globally in 171 countries and 45 languages. Titled “L.A. In November 1991, a Korean convenience store owner who was convicted of fatally shooting African-American teenager Latasha Harlins was given no jail time by a white Los Angeles judge. Berry plays a mother living in South Central, Los Angeles, where the riots began; Daniel Craig plays a white male neighbor and love interest to Berry’s character. The film captures the shock, disappointment and fury felt by many Angelenos, particularly those in the African American community, following the outcomes of two back-to-back, highly publicized trials. All of those things, when you sit down with the individuals who have the decision-making power, it's not easy to look at that and go 'Yeah, okay, that's a movie that we want to make. Damian "Football" Williams, member of the L.A. Four, Georgiana Williams, mother of Damian "Football" Williams and Mark Jackson, This page was last edited on 23 June 2020, at 20:49. John Ridley's 'Let It Fall' and 'LA 92' go deep in exploring the L.A. riots - Los Angeles Times, "John Ridley's documentary about the LA Riots is meant to 'break hearts and lift spirits, "John Ridley to Direct L.A. [9], The New York Times praised the film's construction, saying, "the multiethnic oral history allows politicians and the police, victims and survivors who witnessed the events of April 29 and 30, 1992, to expose a relentless accretion of official decisions and public resentments. Riots Documentary 'Let It Fall' Aims for Oscars Over Emmys", "Let It Fall: Los Angeles 1982-1992 (2017)", "Review: 'Let It Fall: Los Angeles 1982-1992,' a Wrenching John Ridley Film", "John Ridley on Why It Took a Decade to Make Let It Fall: Los Angeles 1982–1992", "2017 Archives - National Board of Review", "2018 Alfred I. duPont-Columbia Award Winners Announced", "2018 Robert F. Kennedy Book & Journalism Award Winners", "NOMINEES FOR THE 39th ANNUAL NEWS & DOCUMENTARY EMMY® AWARDS ANNOUNCED", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Let_It_Fall:_Los_Angeles_1982–1992&oldid=964145125, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, Donnell Alexander, witness to violence at. articleItem._author.display_name : 'Shadow And Act'}}. [3] The film was never made, with Ridley saying, "the fact that it covered many communities, the fact that there was no one person who was a complete protagonist or a complete antagonist... and that it was not a necessarily happy ending, but the scope and scale of it begat a particular price point. [17], Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award, Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights, Unrest or upsetting? It was produced by Lincoln Square Productions, a subsidiary of ABC News, and was released in theaters in Los Angeles and New York on April 21, 2017. As the country prepares to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the 1992 Los Angeles uprising in April, we can now count 7 projects on the subject that are at some stage of development, set to premiere in the next month, or some time later this year. First, Showtime’s new feature-length documentary “Burn Motherf*cker, Burn!”, directed by Sacha Jenkins (“Fresh Dressed”), will explore the complicated relationship between the Los Angeles Police Department and the city’s black and minority communities, tracing a throughline from the 1962 ransacking of a Los Angeles Nation of Islam mosque (which left many injured and one man dead), to the 1965 Watts riots, the rise of L.A. street gangs in the 1970s and ’80s, and the Rodney King beating in 1991. Produced by Lightbox's two-time Academy Award winner Simon Chinn ("Man on Wire") and Emmy winner Jonathan Chinn ("American High") with Academy Award-winning directors Dan Lindsay and TJ Martin ("Undefeated"), and featuring original music from Danny Bensi and Saunder Jurriaans ("OA," "Enemy"), LA 92 premieres at the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival on Friday, April 21. Furthering the national conversation, National Geographic has also partnered with Picture Motion to provide free screenings of the film to colleges and universities nationwide and has developed a robust free discussion guide to accompany the film. The two-hour doc, “Let It Fall: LA 1982-1992,” will get a theatrical release before it airs on ABC in spring 2017. The film features never-before-seen and rarely used footage from the Los Angeles First AME Church, which supported many victims of the violence; materials from the Los Angeles police and fire departments; and video from contemporaneous news broadcasts from LA-based Korean-language television stations. Finally announced today, National Geographic Documentary Films presents "LA 92," a riveting look back at the controversial Rodney King trial and subsequent protests, violence and looting of the city. [8] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 92/100 based on 6 reviews. Burning: The Riots 25 Years Later,” A&E has set an April 18 premiere for the film which will chronicle the civil unrest that shook the nation, telling the story from the POV of those who lived through it all, including police officers, rioters, bystanders caught in the crossfire, and the reporters who covered the chaos. Spike Lee has directed a taping of Roger Guenveur Smith’s one-man Rodney King show, which has been picked up by Netflix to premiere on April 28 – a date that coincides with what will be the 25th anniversary of the acquittals of the LAPD officers who were videotaped brutally beating King in 1991.