Documentary Screening: 17 Blocks
Sun, Apr 26
|Michigan Friends Center
In 1999, 9-year-old Emmanuel Durant began filming life with his family just 17 blocks from the U.S. Capitol. Two decades later, their extraordinary home videos reveal an intimate portrait of love, loss, and resilience at the heart of America’s unfinished story.
Time & Location
Apr 26, 2026, 7:00 PM – 9:15 PM
Michigan Friends Center, 7748 Clark Lake Rd, Chelsea, MI 48118, USA
About the event
Join us for a free, public screening of 17 Blocks, the acclaimed documentary from director Davy Rothbart that tells an unforgettable story of family, resilience, and America’s ongoing struggles with violence and inequality.
In 1999, nine-year-old Emmanuel Sanford-Durant and his family began filming their daily lives in one of Washington, D.C.’s most challenging neighborhoods — just 17 blocks from the U.S. Capitol. Over the next two decades, those intimate home videos, captured in collaboration with Rothbart, became the heart of this powerful film. Through four generations of the Sanford-Durant family, 17 Blocks reveals moments of joy and heartbreak against a backdrop of systemic hardship, offering a deeply personal lens on issues of addiction, gun violence, and hope.
Don’t miss this opportunity to experience a moving and thought-provoking documentary that has resonated with audiences nationwide — and best of all, the screening is free and open to everyone in the community.