Jeramey Jannene

Film About Milwaukee Police Killing Dontre Hamilton is Free this Week

Filmmaker removes fees to watch award-winning documentary.

By - Jun 6th, 2020 10:12 am
The Blood is at the Doorstep Promo Image

The Blood is at the Doorstep Promo Image

The 2017 documentary about the killing of Dontre Hamilton at the hands of a Milwaukee Police Department officer in Red Arrow Park is free to watch for the next week.

In April 2014, the 31-year-old Hamilton, a black male, was shot 14 times after being awoken while sleeping in the park. Officers had previously checked on him twice, but a new officer arrived on the scene later in the day, awoke Hamilton and a scuffle ensued.

The film follows his family’s quest for answers and the aftermath of the tragic incident, including interviews with then-Milwaukee Police Chief Edward A. Flynn and then-police union president Mike Crivello.

Winner of the audience choice award at the Milwaukee Film Festival, the Hollywood Reporter called it “an urgent report from the frontlines of an American crisis.”

“Given the current circumstances, we have decided to remove all barriers to viewing The Blood is at the Doorstep and make it as accessible as possible,” said director Erik Ljung in an email. “Roughly 1,000 people are killed by police each and every year. For every Michael Brown or George Floyd, there are at least another 100 names you have never heard of. Those individuals’ stories are no less tragic or painful for the communities in which they happen, and Dontre’s is just one of the many that you may have never heard of.”

For more on how the film, see my 2017 interview with Ljung, then a Milwaukee resident. A filmmaker that frequently travels, he currently lives in Chicago.

Trailer

Full Film

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