Busch Boskey, Diallo & Baez (l. to r.) photo: Anna Curtis

"We realized we had to get out there with our cameras and talk to people in order to understand what was happening," Gold told The Black World Today in a recent phone interview. "We had to do it for our own sanity."

Then came 9/11 and the two directors had to rethink their approach. Rather than dealing with the issue of police brutality generically, they decided to get three mothers who had lost their sons during the rampage and let them tell their stories.

"The mothers would be a way to focus on their enormous transition from this terrible experience to speaking out for changes in policing," Gold continued. "We wanted to find out what it was in them that pushed them to act publicly, as opposed to retreating into a private state of mourning."

For this task the filmmakers chose Kadiatou Diallo, Iris Baez (her son, Anthony, was killed when a cop applied an illegal chokehold), and Doris Busch Boskey. Her son, Gideon Busch, a Hasidic Jew, was shot outside his home in Brooklyn. And the choices couldn't have been better, given the exposure and publicity surrounding the deaths of their sons and their ability to articulate the mission of "Every Mother's Son."

Gold said, "We have always been attracted to stories that explore large social and political questions through the intimate personal experiences of people affected by them. Policing was such a dense topic that we decided that focusing on New York City during the Giuliani years, and on the stories of three mothers (though they are part of a larger movement), would allow us to get at the big issues through a very personal lens."

The personal lens the directors chose is at once broadly representative of the metropolitan community, touching on the lives of Black, Jewish and Hispanic residents.

"It's not about dealing with a few bad cops," Gold said. "The problem of police brutality is a systemic one...we both felt that it was not enough to make a documentary about police brutality alone. We wanted it to deal with the critical issues surrounding policing, but also to have a human component and an aspect of hope."

One aspect of hope is action, and if this film is anything like Gold's other projects, viewers will feel compelled to find some way to fight against injustice and the ongoing problem of police brutality.

The world premiere of "Every Mother's Son" is part of the 2004 Tribeca Film Festival and will be shown first at UA Battery Park Theatre Complex, 102 North End Ave., btw. Vesey and West Streets, on Sunday, May 2 at 6pm, and Wednesday, May 5 at 4:30 pm. On Saturday, May 8, the film will be shown at the Tribeca Screening Room, 54 Varick Street, just below Canal at 6pm.

A national broadcast premiere is slated for PBS’ P.OV. series on August 17 at 10 pm. Check your local listings.

For additional information and ticket purchases call: (866) 941-3378 or (212) 941-1515.

See also:

1. "Every Mother's Son" (by Chinyere Tutashinda, AlterNet)
2. "Brother Amadou" (by Lance Johnson, AlterNet)
3. "The Futility of Hope" (by Wista Jeanne Johnson, AlterNet)