Let the Fire Burn (2013, documentary) - An American racial and political wound is examined with masterful command

♥♥♥♥♥♥

+ Most Undeserved Flop of the Year + Best Philadelphia Movie of the Year

This colored B/W still-based poster for Jason Osder's Let the Fire Burn represents the incendiary historical event that it portrays

The city of Philadelphia through the 1970s and '80s had an escalating poor relation to the African revolutionary MOVE cult who lived there, which culminated one tragic day in 1985.

Let the Fire Burn is made by debuting documentarian Jason Osder (Ram Dass, Fierce Grace (2001, documentary), production assistant).
The story of the MOVE group, including its problematic sides; first and foremost brainwashing and severe malnutrition of its members' children, the confrontations between the group and the surrounding society, and the fallout of the eventual major tragedy are presented through gathered stock, news and legal footage and sources. Osder's structuring and complimenting on the content is role-model documentary filmmaking. Especially outrageous in this bitter misery is the testimony of the boy Michael Ward. 
The result is a compelling, insistent, important and deeply discouraging film: Let the Fire Burn stands as a monument for the Philadelphia that failed almost completely in its attempt to straighten an uncivilized group within itself, as well as an indirect exposure of racism in America. It is a must-see. 

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Have a look at the Philadelphia Special Investigation Commission's first assembly in a clip here as a teaser for the film

Cost: Unknown
Box office: 64k $ (North America only)
= Uncertain - but undoubtedly a flop of some kind
[Let the Fire Burn premiered 29 April (Hot Docs Festival, Toronto, Canada) and runs 95 minutes. It was made with support from the George Washington University, where Osder is an assistant professor. The film opened #89 to a 5k $ first weekend in 1 theater in North America, where it peaked at #66 and in 9 theaters. It was also shown at documentary festivals in the UK, Poland and Luxembourg, but doesn't have a publicized gross from there. No matter what the film cost to make, its tiny gross would be very unlikely to cover it. The film won an Independent Spirit award. Osder has not returned with anything of his own since; he has produced a couple of documentary credits in 2015 that are still not released. Let the Fire Burn is certified fresh at 98 % with an 8.3/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Let the Fire Burn?