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New doc ‘Nothing to See Here: Watts’ brings rival gangs together in pact to stop violence
Watts Towers.
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Photo by Robert Koo via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr
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Nothing to See Here: Watts takes viewers through the lives of community members as they experience violence, decades long gang rivalries, and neglect from city services.
A new documentary on L.A.'s Watts neighborhood brought together rival gang members, police officers and other neighbors literally under one roof to broker a peace pledge inspired by the 1992 Watts treaty.
A few of the filmmakers — all tied to the Watts community — joined LAist host Julia Paskin on FilmWeek to talk about how they came together and how the film humanizes the people of Watts.
Making the film
Producers gave 20 residents iPhones to film themselves and their community over the course of three years.
The filmmakers included rival gang members, community activists, students, victims of violence and police officers. They even all later came together to decide what ultimately made the final cut in the film.
“The people we had in that room would never be together, so it was tricky,” said Cornelius Wills, one of the filmmakers who is a gang interventionist and Bounty Hunter Bloods gang member. “We got it all together though, just trusting each other and having the same goal for the kids — make Watts better.”
Bringing rivals together
The participants of the film invited the leaders of the local gangs to watch the footage — hoping it would inspire an agreement for peace. And… they actually came.
The meeting was spearheaded by Wills along with Tyrone Riley Sr., a basketball coach and former Grape Street Crip, who’s also credited as a filmmaker.
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“I kind of knew it was going to take a different turn ‘cause he’s from the other side and our beef is so tough and it's been going on for so long,” Will said. “So they see us together — it's like hope, it’s hope that it can get back to what it was.”
Wills was 10 when the original Watts treaty was created, and remembers being involved when the talks happened.
A group of gang leaders and community activists drafted the 1992 Watts treaty, an agreement to end the pervasive violence occurring in South Los Angeles at the time. The treaty is credited for reducing gang violence in the major housing projects in Watts. The Watts treaty lasted 15 years.
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Taking the message beyond Watts
The documentary is now screening throughout the country, and filmmakers hope it’ll inspire other communities and keep the peace alive.
“This movie just reaches in and grabs empathy out and pulls it right out of you, because you’re seeing it from their perspective in their own words,” said Tim Pearce, one of the filmmakers and a retired LAPD gang officer who served in Watts.
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How to see it
The film is currently playing at the Laemmle Monica Film Center in Santa Monica. You can find other screenings and more information about the film and its lasting effects here.
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