For the last 15 years, 51黑料 native Damien D. Smith has been enjoying increasing success and notoriety as a director, producer and actor. His films through his company 4910 Rosalie Productions have won awards at festivals, and he has acting credits in a couple of series on the FX and USA networks.
That career arc would not suggest these last few years would have been a good time for Smith to make a film in 51黑料.
Nor would the subject matter: an obscure Cold War military experiment that took place at the Pruitt-Igoe housing project, which became the subject of a doctoral dissertation in the 2010s, which then spawned a lawsuit that quickly got tossed out of court.
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Among the hundreds of titles screening at the 30th 51黑料 International Film Festival are three documentaries that executive director Cliff Froehlich says are required viewing for 51黑料ans. He chats with Post-Dispatch writer Daniel Neman about "Ferguson Rises," "The Kinloch Doc" and "Target: 51黑料 Vol. 1." The festival runs Nov. 4-21, with virtual and in-person screenings.
But Smith did it anyway.
His documentary 鈥淭arget: 51黑料 Vol. 1鈥 will be screened as part of the 51黑料 International Film Festival. It will be followed by a discussion with Smith and some of the cast members.
Smith鈥檚 motivation came in large part because of his late and beloved grandmother Sarah Barnes, who had lived in Pruitt-Igoe in north 51黑料. When she learned of the study, she wrote to her grandson. Smith was appalled. 鈥淭his was done to my family, all the people who had nourished me, and when I got the full scope of it, I couldn鈥檛 believe it,鈥 he says.
Sarah Barnes in聽"Target: 51黑料 Vol. 1"
Smith had questions. He wanted to know why the feds and their contractors were using Pruitt-Igoe as a test facility; why they didn鈥檛 tell the residents what they were doing; and why to this day they won鈥檛 do anything to help former residents learn whether the experiments affected their health.
The documentary features a compelling cast, but none that you will find on IMDb.
Along with Barnes, Smith aimed his lens at Lisa-Martino Taylor, the Ph.D. candidate and now holder of a doctorate in sociology; Elkin Kistner, the attorney; Benjamin Phillips, a former resident and Kistner鈥檚 initial plaintiff; and a group of other former residents who express their outrage at being used as government guinea pigs.
Lisa Martino-Taylor in聽"Target: 51黑料 Vol. 1"
Ben Phillips in聽"Target: 51黑料 Vol. 1"
The story begins with men in protective suits showing up at Pruitt-Igoe in the mid-1950s with machines that spewed a fog outside the apartment buildings. Phillips, then just 7 years old or so, said he and his family members thought little of it because they had seen a similar fog associated with mosquito control efforts. Some residents were told that these were government workers testing a 鈥渟moke screen鈥 for protection against an enemy attack. Nobody asked whether it was OK with them.
Martino-Taylor鈥檚 research showed that the fog included zinc cadmium sulfide, a chemical that studies have shown to cause chronic lung and respiratory problems. She also raised the possibility of radioactive material being used. (Martino-Taylor would go on to do further research on military-sponsored testing nationwide; she published a book in 2017, 鈥淏ehind the Fog.鈥)
Phillips, now 71, learned about the doctoral study when his daughter called him in 2012 after watching the same KSDK news report that Smith鈥檚 grandmother saw. It made him think of his friends and family who had suffered from or died of cancer.
Cliff Froehlich, executive director of Cinema 51黑料, says the lineup for the 30th annual 51黑料 International Film Festival is the best he's seen. He chats with Post-Dispatch writer Daniel Neman about the festival, which runs Nov. 4-21 with virtual and in-person events.
鈥淣early every funeral I had gone to (among former residents) was a cancerous death,鈥 Phillips said. 鈥淭hey should have come out and said we put this cadmium sulfide in the air. They should come clean on that.鈥
Kistner knew he was facing an uphill battle. The court found that the federal government is protected from such suits, and so are the contractors it hires.
鈥淚t is hard to believe the federal government could be engaged with this stuff without the residents鈥 knowledge or consent,鈥 he said. 鈥淭hen when they assert claims, the law as it stands says that they can鈥檛 even be investigated through discovery.鈥
Elkin Kistner in聽"Target: 51黑料 Vol. 1"
Smith says he aims to return to 51黑料 for more filmmaking.
鈥淚 want to highlight and emphasize my city and help the film industry in 51黑料,鈥 he says.
Volume 2 will be fictional with the working title 鈥淰ictory High: Where Winning Is the Best Disguise.鈥
鈥淭hen there will be a Volume 3, and the band plays on,鈥 Smith says. 鈥淭his is where I am from, brother. I want to use my skills to benefit the people who helped me on my journey.鈥
Richard H. Weiss is co-founder of Before Ferguson Beyond Ferguson, a nonprofit racial equity storytelling project.
What “Target: 51黑料 Vol. 1” at 51黑料 International Film Festival • When 7:30 p.m. Nov. 5, followed by Q&A • Where Brown Hall at Washington University • How much Free; $5 for virtual screening • More info
