The Force

At a powderkeg moment in American policing, The Force goes deep inside the embattled Oakland Police Department as it struggles to confront federal demands for reform, the rise of Black Lives Matter and an explosive scandal. Winner of the Documentary Directing Award at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival, filmmaker Peter Nicks (The Waiting Room) embedded with the department over the course of two years to follow its serial efforts to recast itself. The film focuses on the new chief brought in to effect reform at the very moment the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, MO sparks a popular uprising to demand police accountability and racial justice both in Oakland and across the nation.

Includes a post-film conversation with Director/Producer/Writer/Cinematographer Peter Nicks.

Peter Nicks is an Emmy Award-winning director, known for his immersive camera work and cinema vérité style. He won this year’s Sundance Directing prize for his second documentary, THE FORCE (2017), which is being released theatrically this month by Kino Lorber. He previously directed the critically acclaimed doc THE WAITING ROOM (2012), the first in a trilogy of timely, immersive docus exploring the interconnected narratives of health care, criminal justice and education in Oakland, CA. He received his B.A. from Howard University and his M.A. from UC Berkeley.