If the first RIP video, "RIP June" was raw and emotional, the most recent in the YAK Film series of RIP videos,"RIP 211," is more socio-politica. It was posted on 17 December 2009 a few days after Kenneth "211" Ross was shot and killed by police in Oakland. You didn't hear about this death on the news and that is what makes this memorial video more important and perhaps more socially informative--the reality is that young black men in this particular neighborhood in East Oakland die prematurely and their deaths often go unnoticed by the public.
Ross (14 September 1991 to 3 December 2009) is the only RIP dedication whose full name is used. "RIP 211" is in color and takes the film making process a step further. According to one of the filmmakers, Yoram Savion, in "RIP 211" the angles were picked and while it was not story-boarded in advance, it was story boarded on the spot. The cast and crew visited a squat (an abandoned building) "That had become sort of a shrine to 211." After you get in that building, you get out via dance, "still remembering him in dance and dance acts as an emotional release."
Savion, Kash Gaines and Javier Ochoa of YAK Films filmed and edited this piece which features the Turf Feinz dancers eNinja, Chonkie, NoNoise, BJ, Loyntz and Larry.
Yoram Savion is from France and part of YAK Films. YAK is a team of filmmakers leading the Youth UpRising Media Literacy and Production (a training and employment program) in East Oakland. The four man team is dedicated to promoting change and giving a voice to the alternative to "played-out mainstream media." Joining Savion is Ben Tarquin from Japan, Javier Ochoa from Mexico and Kash Gaines from the U.S.
"RIP 211" from YAK Films
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