Paper City - Stop the School to Prison Pipeline - CoINTELPRO
Akil's debut feature Paper City-Stop the School to Prison Pipeline is both a 45-minute film and curriculum inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s final book, Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community made available as a free educational resource to counteract the school-to prison pipeline and continue the legacy of King in the age of mass incarceration.
Paper City is set in Holyoke, MA, a post-industrial city once known for its thriving paper industry has become known as an arson capital of America. Paper City began from interviews with middle school students who must navigate booming drug economies, struggling school systems, gang warfare, and unprecedented rates of incarceration in order to make it to graduation.
Role: Director, Producer, Cinematographer, Editor, Curriculum Director, Outreach Director
Paper City - Stop the School to Prison Pipeline is provided with curriculum created by educators from two national youth leadership programs: City Year and the Help Increase the Peace Project. This program is designed to educate and inspire communities to achieve the American Dream as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. envisioned in the age of mass incarceration. To watch the film and access the curriculum both are free on www.papercitymovie.com.
Film Festival Selections: Global Peace Film Festival, A3C Hip-Hop Festival and Conference, Chicago International Social Change Film Festival, Puerto Rican Heritage Film Festival, Southern Colorado Film Festival, Kickstarter Staff Pick
In our first episode, Gonzo decides to exploit the fear and loathing surrounding the chaos of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign and criminal convictions in New York City, discovering a moral conundrum between media, politics, and the American Dream.
Gonzo hustles to get the inside scoop and the perfect sensational content: talking to everyday New Yorkers about their fears; interviewing Councilman Yusef Salaam of the Exonerated 5, who sues Trump for lies during the presidential debates; even hiring ex-Congressman George Santos, who faces multiple criminal convictions, to do his bidding as GONZOVISION’s political correspondent on Halloween, days before the election.
After Trump wins, Gonzo reports at the president-elect’s criminal sentencing in New York City, and discovers just how powerful the fear and loathing is, as George faces his fate… but is ultimately freed from prison by President Trump, and shares his Gonzo reporting on Halloween in 2025, teasing the next episode.