Twenty years ago, Philadelphia’s Osage Avenue was the site of a shocking use of force by the city’s police department. After a long standoff with a black liberation group called MOVE, police dropped a bomb on their headquarters, igniting a fire that burned an entire city block to the ground and left 11 people dead, including five children.
“Let The Fire Burn” is a controversial documentary by up-and-coming director Jason Osder that chronicles the story that led to the infamous May 1985 incident.
The documentary was screened on the film festival circuit and was eventually picked up by Zeitgeist Films. Although it is told through the eyes of Osder, who is white, the film reportedly offers an unbiased and thorough account of the incidents leading up to and during the standoff.
According to Zeba Blay at Shadow and Act, “Let The Fire Burn” is “powerfully and masterfully structured” and Osder “creates a visually textured and fascinating piece of storytelling that steers clear of editorialization and manipulation by allowing the content to speak for itself.”
Zeitgeist has scheduled a release date of Oct. 2, at Film Forum in New York City, followed by a two- week run at the Gene Siskel Film Center in downtown Chicago from Oct. 18-31. The film is expected to have a limited national release and eventual DVD and VOD distribution.
While there’s no official trailer yet for “Let The Fire Burn,” here’s a video of a Q & A session with director Osder, taped at the Hot Docs Film Festival:
