- Radicalized is the definitive voice of a generation feature documentary film about the new American radical resistance told through the lens of an anarchist collective in Los Angeles.
- Radicalized is a revolutionary film about political resistance in Los Angeles, California told through the eyes of a new generation of radicals in the social justice movement, where ideology meets reality and collides with the powers that be. This film contains footage of graphic police violence. Radicalized takes us inside this emerging consciousness, opening an intimate window into the gritty incubator of a millennial anarchist collective, cohabitating in a small apartment in a working class neighborhood, and into the streets. Recently, the collective launched a weekly radio show, 'On Resistance' (KPFK), asserting their evolving ideology while defining their role in the movement in Los Angeles and beyond.
- Radicalized is not an Occupy movie. It's not a film about the American millennial resistance or their ever-evolving vision for the future. It is not The Square meets Five Broken Cameras and it is not an assemblage of collected video clips stitched to form a radical narrative.
It is a film about 10 young people who relinquish their middle class privilege to live their ideology, and the subsequent impact that occurs when ideology meets reality and collides with the power that be.
Articulated through the inner voices and external lives of the members of an anarchist-collective called MFP (My Friend's Place), Shiamaa, Anthony, Jessica, Alex, Shawn, Eddie, Esho, Ryan, Karo and Mikey are part of a diverse group of twenty-somethings cohabiting in a small apartment in Echo Park; a working class neighborhood east of Hollywood. All of them have given up something meaningful to participate in the movement: personal space, jobs, education, family, old-world friends and more certain trajectories.
Fueled by Occupy Wall Street, the tent encampment at City Hall in October 2011 was the point of departure for the creation of a network of alliances that inspired a new season of resistance in a city with a rich history of political defiance.
Occupy Los Angeles was one of the largest and longest standing encampments in the movement, mounting 60 direct actions in 58 days, impacting legislation and radicalizing thousands.
Radicalized takes us inside this emerging consciousness, opening an intimate window into the gritty incubator of MFP, where they deconstruct the present to create a better future.
Radicalized is the untold story of resistance and suppression focusing on 10 members of MFP over a 2-year period as they organize and engage in a seemingly endless series of political actions, street protests and marches, sometimes occupying public space.
The millennials driving the movement have a sophisticated grasp of local issues and geopolitics, rapidly digesting and disseminating information on social media and producing propaganda to promote their agenda; an anti-capitalist, anarchic ideology that embraces a horizontal philosophy and espouses radical inclusion. They promote economic and social equality for all people. With a stated non-violent policy they aim to smash, patriarch, hierarchy, racism, sexism, classism and the reining corporatacracy.
During this time they are targeted by law enforcement, repeatedly arrested, intimidated and sometimes beaten, only to be further radicalized as they grapple with the debilitating effects of PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder).
The collective's world becomes a place of paranoia and defiance; even the frenetic sanctuary of MFP is threatened as infighting arises while the larger movement is infiltrated by street kids, skid row homeless and parolees, Hollywood gang bangers, provocateurs and undercover cops. This film incorporates graphic footage of police violence that has not been portrayed in the mainstream media. Beatings, 'non lethal' projectile shootings and other incidence of physical violence are an integral part of the narrative.
After dominating the social media outlets of Occupy LA, the collective expands their scope to include the airwaves with their weekly radio show, 'On Resistance' (KPFK), asserting their evolving ideology while defining their role in the movement in Los Angeles and beyond.
Radicalized is captured through the lens of veteran Los Angeles journalist, director Sam Slovick, who shot over 1200 hours of footage over a 2-year period.
This feature documentary traces the trajectories of the larger arcs of it's main characters as well as the movement as a whole, utilizing political protests as tent poles to guide the audience through the story. Additional existing footage including broadcast media footage is incorporated in the film.
Excerpts from KPFK's Sojourner Truth radio show are integrated to pin the story down in time and geography while tying it to larger global issues happening simultaneously.
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content