"Riot" is a short film by Nathan Silver. The clips used in this film are footage taken from Silver's first childhood foray into film spliced with video and audio concerning news coverage of the Los Angeles riots in 1992.
The original footage featured in this film was shot by Silver and his family at his ninth birthday party, where he made his directorial debut, casting his friends and family as actors in what was essentially his reinterpretation of the country's turmoil during the riots. I feel that this film has a lot to unpack because not only does it highlight how prevalent and accessible the news about the riots was to children, but that this film depicts the events as interpreted by a nine-year-old white child--entirely saturated with a fascination with violence and completely devoid of the social and political reasons behind the violence. "Riot" is the result of an adult Silver going back to this old footage, now more aware of what was actually going on at the time and recontextualizing his old childhood perspectives.
-Caitlin Marshall
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