Peter Nicks: The Force

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Peter Nicks previously directed The Waiting Room about healthcare in Oakland. His latest movie, The Force, goes inside the Oakland Police Department, which is attempting to make internal reforms, but faces an uphill battle.

The film follows young, idealized police recruits at the beginning of their training and traces how they were later changed by the job. Although his subjects in his film are flawed, Nicks felt it was important to paint them as humanized, three-dimensional police officers. He says his films are asking the audience to not just point to the institutional failures of the criminal justice system, health care and education, but also to examine the root causes of these failures. A third film about Oakland's education system is forthcoming.

Photo by Kino Lorber

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