''Flag Wars'' is a 2003 American

documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

about the conflict between two communities during the

gentrification Gentrification is the process whereby the character of a neighborhood changes through the influx of more Wealth, affluent residents (the "gentry") and investment. There is no agreed-upon definition of gentrification. In public discourse, it has ...

of a

Columbus, Ohio Columbus (, ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Ohio, most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 United States census, 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the List of United States ...

neighborhood. Filmed in a

cinéma vérité Cinéma vérité (, , ) is a style of documentary filmmaking developed by Edgar Morin and Jean Rouch, inspired by Dziga Vertov's theory about '' Kino-Pravda''. It combines improvisation with use of the camera to unveil truth or highlight subje ...

style, the film is an account of the tension between the two historically oppressed communities of

African-Americans African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

and gays in Columbus' Olde Towne East neighborhood. The film was nominated for an

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

and won three awards, including a

Peabody Award The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Foster Peabody, George Peabody, honor what are described as the most powerful, enlightening, and in ...

Synopsis

''Flag Wars'' is a look inside the conflicts that surface when black

working-class The working class is a subset of employees who are compensated with wage or salary-based contracts, whose exact membership varies from definition to definition. Members of the working class rely primarily upon earnings from wage labour. Most c ...

families are faced with an influx of white gay homebuyers to their

neighborhood. Filmed over four years, ''Flag Wars’'' “as-it-is-happening”

style captures the emotions and honesty of unguarded moments as tensions mount between neighbors.

Awards

''Flag Wars'' and filmmakers Linda Goode Bryant and Laura Poitras won the 2003 CDS Filmmaker Award at the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival, the 2003 SXSW Competition Award at the

SXSW Film Festival South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has continued growing in both s ...

, and a 2003 Peabody Award.63rd Annual Peabody Awards
May 2004. It was also nominated for the 2004 Truer than Fiction Award at the

Independent Spirit Awards The Independent Spirit Awards, originally known as the FINDIE or Friends of Independents Awards, and later as the Film Independent Spirit Awards, are awards presented annually in Santa Monica, California, to independent filmmakers. Founded in ...

and a 2004

References

External links

''Flag Wars''
site for P.O.V. on

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

* {{Laura Poitras 2003 documentary films 2003 films 2003 LGBTQ-related films African-American working class American LGBTQ-related documentary films Culture of Columbus, Ohio Documentary films about cities in the United States Documentary films about Ohio Films directed by Laura Poitras Films shot in Ohio Gentrification in the United States LGBTQ in Ohio POV (TV series) films Works about gentrification 2000s English-language films 2000s American films English-language documentary films