Bastards of the Party
- This is a past program
Part of Summer Night Cinema: 50 Years of Hip Hop, celebrating the art form's impact on music, film, and pop culture. Curated by critic Ernest Hardy.
Former gang member turned film director Cle “Bone” Sloan pulls no punches in this 2005 documentary (produced by Antoine Fuqua) that unearths the roots of the Bloods and the Crips, and in doing so maps the backstory of L.A. gangsta rap—detailing the sociopolitical conditions that birthed the genre. Exhaustively researched, including a powerful interview with the late critic Mike Davis, but never less than fascinating (and infuriating), Bastards of the Party is one of those forever timely/timeless cultural artifacts with an endless reach.
(2005, dir. Cle Sloan, color, 95 minutes)
Summer Night Cinema is sponsored by Carla Emil and Rich Silverstein
