In a rapidly changing America where mass inequality and dwindling opportunity have devastated the black working class, three men fight to build something lasting for themselves and future generations.
Shot over three years in the neighborhoods of Detroit, Street Fighting Men is a story of hard work, faith and manhood in a community left to fend for itself. The film takes a deep, observational dive into the
lives of three African American men: retired cop Jack Rabbit, who continues to patrol the mean streets as a citizen; Deris, who has made bad choices in the past but wants to be a good role model for his baby daughter; and Luke, who labors mightily while putting together a meager living.
Featuring a beautiful score by Detroit-based musician Shigeto, Street Fighting Men is an emotionally powerful, visually compelling journey into the forgotten neighborhoods of Detroit; a place that embodies the greatest challenges we still face as a country.
"Stories of the death and rebirth of this city are familiar, but Andrew James’s compelling documentary conveys the experience of living there. From the beginning there’s an undercurrent of weariness, of the wear and tear of living in a place to which the rest of the world – or rather, the movie strongly implies, the white world, the money world – has grown indifferent." -Glenn Kenny, The New York Times
"A portrait of black resilience and perseverance — without sentimentality — that still offers a way out of the dark." -April Wolfe, Film Critic & Writer "An incisive, intimate and enlightening cinematic gaze on Detroit. Triumphs as an authentic story of resilience." -Les Roka, The Utah Review
DVD Available Beginning March 23, 2021
UPC: 7-20229-91799-5 | Catalog #: FRF 917995D | MSRP: $24.95 Directed by Andrew James | 101 minutes, color, 2019
