Uploaded July 2011 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
When he was 18 years old, Eddie Bocanegra went to jail for the murder of another man in a gang-related shooting. Now, seventeen years later, Eddie is using the experiences from his past to stop gang violence by working with CeaseFire, a Chicago violence prevention program. Eddie is one of CeaseFire's Violence Interrupters, men and women with ties to Chicago's gangs, who "leverage their knowledge of the city to diffuse tensions and, hopefully, maintain peace by meeting with individuals, negotiating truces, and discouraging retaliation when conflicts erupt." (Chicago, Illinois)
What's Your Calling? camera & Interview by Rachel Pikelny / Editing by Matt Lauterbach / Produced by Rachel Pikelny
Eddie's story and others can be seen in The Interrupters. From producer/director Steve James and author-turned-producer Alex Kotlowitz, The Interrupters tells the moving and surprising story of three "violence interrupters" in Chicago who with bravado, humility and even humor try to protect their communities from the violence they once employed.
Stills courtesy of CeaseFire and The Interrupters, a new documentary from Kartemquin Films. Watch the trailer for The Interrupters, see where the film is screening, and learn moreinterrupters.kartemquin.com
When he was 18 years old, Eddie Bocanegra went to jail for the murder of another man in a gang-related shooting. Now, seventeen years later, Eddie is using the experiences from his past to stop gang violence by working with CeaseFire, a Chicago violence prevention program. Eddie is one of CeaseFire's Violence Interrupters, men and women with ties to Chicago's gangs, who "leverage their knowledge of the city to diffuse tensions and, hopefully, maintain peace by meeting with individuals, negotiating truces, and discouraging retaliation when conflicts erupt." (Chicago, Illinois)
What's Your Calling? camera & Interview by Rachel Pikelny / Editing by Matt Lauterbach / Produced by Rachel Pikelny
Eddie's story and others can be seen in The Interrupters. From producer/director Steve James and author-turned-producer Alex Kotlowitz, The Interrupters tells the moving and surprising story of three "violence interrupters" in Chicago who with bravado, humility and even humor try to protect their communities from the violence they once employed.
Stills courtesy of CeaseFire and The Interrupters, a new documentary from Kartemquin Films. Watch the trailer for The Interrupters, see where the film is screening, and learn moreinterrupters.kartemquin.com
