"Sa-I-Gu" (which translates as "April 29") deals with an overlooked yet tragic series of events during the 1992 L. A. riots after the acquittal of the cops who
assaulted Rodney King. Vandalism and lootings everywhere but there were other more violent acts, gun shootings and people got killed, and among some of the major victims
were members of the Asian community, who had the stores smashed or set on fire, and a number of people were attacked or killed. This is the story of some of the affected
Asian families a couple of months after the riots where they talk about the attacks they and family members suffered and the impact brought on their communities. Here, the
perspective presented comes from women of the Asian community, their back story on how they came to America and made prosperous businesses, all of which were attacked or
destroyed by the rioters.
The documentary covers many topics, which includes the horror faced by the Asian community, torn apart between reacting with violence against the rioters or to stay
quiet as the riot grows more and more intense; the prejudice from the black community against them (not so much as vice-versa, since the store owners were terrified and
simply did not understand why, in some cases, African-Americans costumers and even workers on their stores were attacking them for something that happened on the other
side of town and it was a failure of the judicial system); the sad tragic stories of those who lost a family member during the riots, and there's also the rise of the
Asian community with protests demanding reparation for all the negative action they received from authorities who refused to assist them during the riots.
It's a terribly sad film since in the end nobody won anything with those hurtful protests. All communities lost, the city lost with countless damages and millions
spent to rebuild many places and infrastructure, people were hurt or killed simply because justice wasn't served, it failed a whole community who in return attacked another.
More than 30 years later and the facts remain as absurd and tragic, and when we think about similar cases of police brutality and racism, things haven't changed much but the
outcome from justice changed a lot in the past few years and communities, at least on that regard of the justice system, things changed a little and almost everything is
quite favorable. Some riots happen here and there but never on the same disastrous proportions as L. A. 1992. A must-see documentary for those interested in the issue. 9/10.
