DC4REEL

Go-Go City: Displacement & Protest in Washington, DC

SAMUEL GEORGE
USA, 2020
50 minutes, Color
Official website

For decades Washington D.C. has stood as a beacon for black culture and community, yet a wave of gentrification threatens this history. Filmmaker Samuel George dives into this rich tapestry as well as the economic and cultural gentrification that stand to mute it. George documents the intersection of go-go music, the hypnotizing sound of D.C., and the protests over racial justice that proliferated across the city for most of 2020. This lively documentary features legends as well as up and coming bands in the musical genre while following along as go-go becomes a tool to push back against gentrification and ultimately becomes the soundtrack of the protest movement. Filmed on the frontlines of the protests, Go-Go City takes viewers inside the protests that have been widely misrepresented and misunderstood and interweaves scenes of protest as displaced communities rally around the city's beloved go-go music to retake the streets.—Various sources

The film won the Gold Award at the Spotlight Documentary Film Awards.