Gravitas Ventures, a Red Arrow Studios company, has now acquired for release Ace Spectrum Productions timely investigative documentary feature film ”The Friendliest Town,” the directorial debut from award winning journalist with The Real News Network, and author Stephen Janis. Produced by award winning journalists Taya Graham and Janis (hosts of TRNN’s Police Accountability Report, and producers and co-creators of the award-winning podcast Truth and Reconciliation on Baltimore’s NPR affiliate WYPR), this riveting documentary chronicles a startling tale of institutionalized racism working against the dedicated efforts of the first African American Police Chief, Kelvin Sewell in the small town of Pocomoke on Maryland’s lower Eastern Shore. The national debate over policing generally misses a critical point: how embedded law enforcement is in the political power structure of this country. Historically this has situated law enforcement at a critical juncture in conflicts regarding race, equity, and politics. This complex story made national news and shines spotlight on the insidious racism often just under the surface. Gravitas Ventures across North America (the United States and Canada) on all VOD/Digital & Blu-Ray/DVD platforms beginning on January 19, 2021.
Since the death of George Floyd at the hands of police, calls for substantive reform of law enforcement have launched an intense national debate. But an effort by veteran African American officer, Kelvin Sewell to implement community policing in the small racially divided town of Pocomoke is a cautionary tale on limits both to reforms and how racism may be the biggest obstacle to change.
That’s the subject of “The Friendliest Town,” a gripping documentary feature film which chronicles the turmoil, conflicts, and retribution that embroiled a five-year effort to overhaul a troubled police department amid long simmering racial tensions.
In 2011, the city of roughly 4,000 people which is equally split along racial lines, hired Kelvin Sewell, its first African American police chief. Sewell, a former Baltimore city homicide investigator and narcotics officer had grown tired of the aggressive tactics used by the Baltimore Police Department…particularly those targeting black communities.
”The Friendliest Town” follows those at the center of this tumultuous racially charged documentary chief Kelvin Sewell, Pastor Ronnie White, Diane Downing, Todd Knock, Rev. James Jones, Michelle Lucas, Joshua Nordstrom; and the filmmaking team is led by director Stephen Janis, produced by Taya Graham and Stephen Janis, with cinematography by Taya Graham, Stephen Janis, Evan Janis, edited by Kelly McAdams, Stephen Janis, with an original score by Stephen Janis.
