As a resident of Baltimore, home to "Homicide," "The Corner," and "The Wire" -- not to mention gritty, must-see docs such as "Omar & Pete," "Girlhood," and "Boys of Baraka" -- I was wondering how I'd react to a documentary about the mean streets of... the Toronto suburbs. However, I'd seen a previous film by the director that I'd loved, and gave it a chance.
I'm glad I did. The story presented in EMPZ 4 Life is unfortunately a universal one -- young black teenagers subject to a racist system that calls them stupid, flunks them, turns them out on the streets, and then imprisons them (usually, but not necessarily, in that order). The director captured some amazing footage detailing racial profiling and the systemic failure on the part of the public-school system on the part of these kids. Or I guess I should say his crew did -- as an old white guy, director Allan King indicated that he wasn't on location at all, thinking a younger, ethnically diverse crew would earn the trust of the kids of EMPZ 4 Life more than he would/could. In any case, it's hard to walk away from this film unaffected; your heart will really go out to the kids , their parents, and the dedicated volunteers who try to help them get a good education despite the best efforts of the system to prevent this.
