“This was something that I dreamed of (doing) while I was in prison. To see it come to life and then to be nominated… it’s unbelievable,” said author and filmmaker Rick Ross, whose film “Freeway, a Crack in the System” was recently nominated for an Emmy.
The documentary unfolds the true story of how crack cocaine infiltrated and subsequently destroyed inner cities across the country in the ‘80s and ‘90s. Here in Los Angeles Ross, known then as Freeway Ricky had been instrumental in perpetuating the epidemic. However, the film explores deeper, bringing into question, the government’s role in the devastation.
“We got the Nicaraguans in the film (and that hadn’t happened before),” explained Antonio Moore, one of the film’s producers.
“[That] really kind of laid out the truth about what people were saying about Iran-Contra at the time,” he said referring to the political scandal where the U.S. secretly facilitated the sale of firearms to Iran to fund the Contras, a rebel group in Nicaragua.
Crack Cocaine was said to have played a major role in the funding.
Of the nomination Moore told the Sentinel it was an “honor”.
“I grew up in Los Angeles and [this project] was a passion for me,” he said.
“So often we don’t get to tell our own stories and get the narrative right and I think we were able to do that with this film.”
Visit www.rickross.com for film details and to check out Ross’ autobiography.