One film that narrowly missed my best of the year list, but was firmly high up on our Top 10 Documentaries of 2011 was the latest from Hoop Dreams director Steve James. We called The Interrupters “as epic a documentary as can be” as it examines gang violence in Chicago and the group Ceasefire, an initiative determined to put an end to it. The group itself is made up of mostly ex-gangbangers, who use their own personal loss and regret as ammunition in pleading those still active in the gang world to leave it alone and move on.

This doc is over two hours long and provides no precise answer on how to solve the problem, making it a difficult experience to swallow. Yet it’s this kind of honest documentation that makes all of the small victories that occur here all the more meaningful. PBS has now put the entire thing up and I couldn’t recommend it enough. Stream the entire thing below.

For more information, check out the official site which has Blu-ray/DVD details.