Awakening and Sacrifice: A Conversation with Pete Nicks

In January 2018 I spoke with the Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Peter Nicks about The Force, his feature documentary about Oakland’s deeply troubled police department and its history of violence. (That interview was reprinted here in June.)

The Force is the second film in his trilogy exploring the interconnected narratives of health care, criminal justice, and education in America. It won the Documentary Directing Prize at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival, was released theatrically by Kino Lorber, and aired nationwide on PBS’s Independent Lens. The previous film in the series, The Waiting Room, was set in Oakland’s Highland Hospital, and won the Truer Than Fiction Independent Spirit award in 2012. Nicks is currently at work on the final segment, Homeroom, set in an Oakland public high school.

The following is a new interview with Pete, discussing those issues in the post-George Floyd world.

AMERICAN TECTONICS

THE KING’S NECKTIE: I went back and looked at the interview we did a couple of years ago, and it was astonishing. The issues we talked about were exactly the same issues that are on the front page right now. So I really wanted to talk to you about how things have changed, if they’ve changed, and your take on the whole picture.