Don’t worry world! We always support watching documentaries legally and many of the films we recommend on Influence Film Club are available where you live too. We suggest using your preferred method for watching a film – such as searching iTunes, Amazon, Netflix, VOD platforms (video-on-demand), or renting/buying a DVD.
Find out more about starting a film club!
The CHECK IT gang, a group of young LGBT African-American men and women in Washington D.C., fights tooth and nail to survive in a world where very little love is shown to them.
Director: Dana Flor, Toby Oppenheimer
Share CHECK IT with your community. As director Flor states, the fact that so little is known about homeless LGBT youth is “shameful.” Through education and the sharing of personal stories, lives can be saved.
Donate to Check It Enterprises, “a social enterprise derived from the positive transformation of leaders of the only documented gay gang in America, maybe the world.” Or buy one of their own-designed t-shirts.
Get involved in the It Gets Better Project, an international network working to make the world a better place for LGBT youth. Visit their GET INVOLVED page to find a way in which you can contribute.
Read a conversation with the directors of CHECK IT on Nylon!
An interesting look at Trinidad, the D.C. neighborhood where the Check It gang first began. “Thirty years ago, Trinidad was one of DC’s centers for drug-related activity and associated violence… While crime has dropped since then, a look at recent statistics reveals a slew of robberies, some armed, in the last month, as well as a couple shootings.”
Read it on Urban Turf.
“For three years, District-based filmmaker and journalist Dana Flor and her partner, Toby Oppenheimer, have followed Check It, tracking four crew members as they attempted to move beyond the unpredictable violence of street-corner flash mobs toward responsible employment and careers that took them to the runway and fashion industry.”
Read the full article on The Washington Post.
“It’s happening in D.C. just a couple miles from the White House, and I don’t think these kids or their problems are really known.”
Read the full article on IndieWire.
“Most lesbian, gay, bisexual, (LGB) youth are happy and thrive during their adolescent years. Having a school that creates a safe and supportive learning environment for all students and having caring and accepting parents are especially important. Positive environments can help all youth achieve good grades and maintain good mental and physical health. However, some LGB youth are more likely than their heterosexual peers to experience negative health and life outcomes.”
Continue reading on the CDC.
“I want the world to see another side of DC. It’s not the White House. The Check It embody so many of our failures as a nation.”
Read the full article on The Guardian
