On These Grounds: A Shocking Film About Police Brutality In American Schools | Documentary films

Fields arrived in Shakara’s classroom on October 15, 2015 after a math teacher accused the young student of disturbing. When Shakara refused to leave her office, Fields put his arm around her neck, pinned her to the ground, threw her across the classroom, and put his knee on her as he proceeded to arrest her. He also arrested a classmate, Niya Kenny, for speaking out against the use of force which left Shakara with a carpet burn on her right eye, a hairline fracture on her wrist and trauma she will carry for many years. years.

You’ve probably seen the videos, recorded by Kenny and his classmates, but you’ll be forgiven if you don’t remember what incident it was. There have been so many like this: the 2016 video of 12-year-old Janissa Valdez slammed to the ground, leaving her unconscious; the 2017 video of 15-year-old Jasmine Darwin knocked down in a cafeteria with a concussion; the 2019 video of Officer Zachary Christensen pinning an 11-year-old to the ground in Farmington, New Mexico, and so on. Just as I speak to Garrett Zevgetis, the director of On These Grounds, on Zoom, a new video shows a California school resources officer slamming 16-year-old Mikaila Robinson to the ground.

The problem is systemic, which is why there is sustained pressure among activist organizations to remove the police from American schools. But Fields, and the majority in South Carolina who defend police conduct on campus and beyond, refuse to believe that he or the system is to blame. Instead, they choose Shakara, a foster child, and whatever she could do to attract this violence to herself.

“They look at each one like a series of isolated incidents, ”Zevgetis explains. “When you only think of it as an isolated incident, you don’t have to think about the context. You can reduce it to blaming the child.

Zevgetis’ film is about countering such narratives with context. The documentary swings between intimate memories of the brutal incident and a cultural forensic indictment that invites a racially biased criminal justice system into an equally biased school system. Kenny and Shakara both speak their truth on camera, supported by EveryBlackGirl founder Vivian Anderson. The activist moved from Brooklyn to South Carolina to help them fight the justice system. The two girls have been charged under disturbing South Carolina school laws. Zevgetis ties all of these together to Dr. Janae Davis’ thesis that the soil of South Carolina, where the history of slavery is buried, absorbs trauma. “Burying this story is a metaphor for Ben Fields and for everyone else who doesn’t want to think about the context of the story,” says Zevgetis.

The director also mentions a treat not seen in the film. His follow-up conversations with Fields after George Floyd’s murder have yielded predictable results. Fields agreed that Derek Chauvin, the former officer convicted of the murder of George Floyd, had gone too far. But according to Zevgetis, Fields, an officer who insists neither he nor the justice system is racist, was much more focused on the victim’s past. “He blamed George Floyd. “

The manager talks to me during his break from his bartending job at the Charles Hotel in Cambridge. The documentary business isn’t very lucrative, he explains, so serving drinks is a livelihood that gives him the flexibility to pursue important stories as a filmmaker. He speaks with humility and protection of Anderson, Kenny and Shakara. He says they have become like family, having spent years filming together, and before that, many hours chatting, building trust. “The most important thing is to let the subject know that you will never betray them,” Zevgetis explains. He had to do this job to tell this story, especially since as a white man he looks like so many people who are inclined to blame black people for their own oppression.

Zevgetis is candid about his white male privilege, explaining how he was able to exercise it with his years in the Navy, another use of force occupation, to gain access to Fields. “I can get into the belly of the beast,” Zevgetis said. “I knew he would relate to me.”

But Zevgetis also acknowledges that putting Fields in front of the camera and giving him a platform requires caution, as much of what the former cop has to say – between blaming the victim and rationalizing police brutality – can re-traumatize a viewer. . “Shakara, Niya [Kenny] and Viviane [Anderson] are the most important, ”says Zevgetis. “If they didn’t want Ben [Fields] in the movie, he wouldn’t have been in the movie.

Zevgetis says Anderson was his guide on this issue. The activist developed a relationship with Fields. She is seen debating and attempting to educate him numerous times throughout the film about how black children are criminalized for behavior that white children often get away with. Fields’ refusal to really listen is a whole different form of violence that Zevgetis wouldn’t let endure. He took the advice of his producer Chico Colvard to never leave Fields’ arguments or rationalizations unchecked. “Every time he brings up a point, we make sure that someone after him deconstructs or removes that reasoning,” says Zevgetis.

The documentary maker does not feign impartiality. On These Grounds has a clear perspective that shines through in their interviews and underhanded imagery. Clips of Fox News presenters defending brutal police action are superimposed on a swamp. As we listen to local Sheriff Leon Lott talk about the community’s trust in the South Carolina Police Force, the camera wanders around his office, observing an American flag carved out of wood and a buffalo head hanging on the wall. . Remember that the white settlers slaughtered bison to starve the Natives of their land. Context is everything.

Film biases can invite criticism even though all documentaries and journalism are inherently biased. In an article published in the Canadian magazine The Walrus, Pacinthe Mattar wrote about how the media privilege and rarely question the narratives put forward by the police and other government institutions. Meanwhile, the testimonies of witnesses on the ground are expected to be questioned, corroborated and questioned.

“There is no objectivity,” says Zevgetis, before defending his own bias.

“I have always thought that a school office was the safest place in America. There is no logic or rationalization to grab a teenage girl, assault her, and throw her across the room. There would never be both sides of this story for me.