Paul Allaer "Baltimore Rising" (2017 release; 95 min.) is a documentary about the rioting and looting which shook Baltimore following the arrest and subsequent death of Freddy Gray in curious/suspect conditions, and how the city tries to move beyond this. As the movie opens, we are introduced to a blighted neighborhood: "it's not the riots that caused this, it's the condition of the community that caused the riots", comments a Baltimore city council member. We then revisit the event of April, 2015.Couple of comments: this is the latest film from actor-director Sonja Sohn (herself African-American). The initial part of the documentary, focusing on the events in April-May of 2015, are the hardest to watch, as there is so much senseless violence and pent-up anger and frustration in the African-American community, you can;t help but shake your head as you are watching it. Also, did you know that 3 of the 6 accused police officers are African-American? The movie finds its best footing in the aftermath. The Baltimore police reaches out to various leaders in the African-American community as the city awaits the trials of the police officers involved in the Freddy Gray events and the new police chief is desperate to avoid further rioting and looting, no matter what the outcome of the trials. A picture emerges of a segment in the African-American community that is eager to move forward and hence prepared to work with the police. "What can I do for you?", the police chief asks. "Jobs, bring us jobs", is the unanimous answer. Then there is another segment with the African-American community that will never be happy with anything, and instead looks at the rioting and looting as their "right" to protest. There are some startling moments in the film. Let me give you one example: at a certain point one of the social activists hands up a banner that reads 'BALTIMORE RISING" and one of the cops comes up and says "you have to take that banner down". When the activist asks: what law does this banner break", the cop is stumped and eventually mumbles "I don't know" (but the banner is still coming down), wow."Baltimore Rising" recently premiered as part of the HBO Documentary series, and I caught it the other day at HBO on Demand. While this documentary certainly isn't without flaws (it rambles a bit too much for its own good), I learned a thing or two from watching this documentary, and that's always a good thing. "Baltimore Rising" is worth checking out.

cmarthur817 This documentary is highly informative and is a must see for anyone interested in social justice. We rarely have the opportunity to hear the voices of the community members who feel compelled, often at great personal and financial risk, to disrupt their (and their family's) lives to stand up for the people in their community, demanding rights to which all US citizens are entitled. Also, we rarely have the opportunity to hear personal perspectives on these same issues of police who are also members of the community. The mainstream news media often takes an 'if it bleeds it leads' stance, looking for violence - and in cases of black communities, looting - by a small minority of those present, as opposed to reporting on the actual, deeper factors that oblige everyday citizens to march in the streets. This documentary aims to look deeper, for example, as community members discuss root causes for the unrest with the new police commissioner. The language is raw in some instances, but so is the emotion. This isn't a political issue for this community and others like it: their very lives and those of their children are at stake. It's not always easy to watch, but definitely worth it to gain a deeper understanding of what occurred in Baltimore.

Brent Burkwell Don't spend your money, the movie is nothing more than left wing propaganda, all lies, no truth what so ever. The liberals celebrating criminals and vilifying the police. So what is the point of wasting your time? Trust me, your money would be better spent on a Big Mac, fries and a coke(0r Pepsi, if you prefer).

emperormarshmallow Ignore comments about this documentary being liberal bias and about "thugs" -- this film is a historical and situational look into the lives of the Baltimore community, both citizens, police officers, and everyone in between. This documentary seamlessly ties together everyone's competing realities over Baltimore and the 2015 riots and asks bigger questions about the effectiveness and accountability that exists (or lack thereof) within legal and judicial systems in the United States, particularly Baltimore.