Frank151 Interviews Miami-based Mandon Lovett, Director Of WSHH’s Chicago Documentary “The Field” :::: #Film

If you missed The Field, it was a very well received (and much needed) documentary that told the story of the uprise in violence in Chicago and its connection to Drill Music. The film was not only wonderfully shot, but the edit was beyond perfect in its storytelling and capturing the right moments. Local film maker Mandon Lovett (of Super International) was the director (and editor) of the project and he was recently interviewed by Frank151. Here are a couple excerpts from the interview as well as an embed of the documentary below if you didn’t see it.

What caught your attention with the correlation of violence in Chicago and its music, as opposed to any other city?
I think that I got in tune with the drill scene through Chief Keef’s “I Don’t Like” video. That video is what really stood out to me. I had heard rumors about how bad it was in Chicago from friends in college. I thought to look at it as any other major American city with crime. Something about that video struck me though, the guys in the video just showed something different and raw. The raw energy really drew me in; I really think it’s the music that has put Chicago in the spotlight nationally, as far as violence goes. That’s what did it for me, I started listening to the music and I became more interested in how bad it was.
What made you want to cover the youth program with Rhymefest in the film?
I think with documentary filmmaking, my approach as a filmmaker is that I’m not trying to persuade. There’s a lot of filmmakers like Michael Moore who try to convince the viewer to feel a certain way about something. That’s not really my approach, I want to just show as many perspectives as possible and I think Rhymefest’s voice in the film was so different. He offered that OG perspective. Also, what he is doing in the community is something that is really important. There was no other reason of putting Rhymefest in, but as another perspective, he was just another voice. My hope was that his voice was heard just as strong as Lil Durk’s voice.
What message did you hope your viewers got from The Field?
I just wanted to shed light. We think we might know what a place is like and automatically place judgment. The bottom line is that there is so little that we don’t know and what makes a culture a certain way. I think The Field gives the city of Chicago and its artists a voice. It’s put the drill scene into perspective. Shedding light was my main goal in making this film.
Read the rest of the interview by clicking here.