Twenty years is a long time. Though, when you look back at your life, sometimes it feels like it was merely an instant. Well, in the upcoming film, “17 Blocks,” it’s clear that two decades can take its toll on a family.
As seen in the trailer for the new MTV Films documentary, “17 Blocks,” the film tells the story of one Washington, DC family, the Sandford-Durants, as they use a camera to document their lives from 1999 to 2019. And through it, you see just how much time 20 years can actually be, as children grow, people tragically pass away, and life constantly changes. The film is directed by Davy Rothbart. Obviously, “17 Blocks” is a film that has taken 20 years to create, but the filmmaker is probably best known for his 2013 documentary, “Medora.”
READ MORE: ‘17 Blocks’ Is An Essential Viewing Doc About Race & Class In America [Tribeca Review]
We saw the documentary when it screened at the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival. In our review, we said, “Director Davy Rothbart wisely removes himself from the effort to allow the cruel and dangerous sprawl of suburban Washington, D.C. to unfold before his audience’s eyes, providing a window into a world many are familiar with yet don’t ‘know.’ And while it’s a difficult sit sometimes, ‘17 Blocks’ is essential viewing for anyone interested in how the confluence of race and class have codified into a sort of informal caste for an entire subsection of America’s citizenry.”
“17 Blocks” is set to arrive in Virtual Cinemas on February 19. You can watch the trailer below.
Here’s the synopsis:
In 1999, filmmaker Davy Rothbart met Emmanuel Sanford-Durant and his older brother, Smurf, during a pickup basketball game in Southeast Washington, D.C. Davy began filming their lives, and soon the two brothers and other family members began to use the camera themselves. Spanning 20 years, this story illuminates a national, ongoing crisis through one family’s raw, stirring and deeply personal saga. Made from more than 1,000 hours of footage, it all starts on the street where they lived in 1999, 17 blocks behind the U.S. Capitol.
