12 O'Clock Boys

The 12 O'Clock Boys are a Baltimore street gang with a difference: while the kids in 'The Wire' occupy their time dealing drugs on street corners, these guys spend every Sunday marauding through the town centre on battered old dirt bikes. It's become something of a tradition: the cops can't give chase because it might endager the public, so the bikers have free reign of the city. First-time director Lotfy Nathan's film follows Pug, a 12-year-old wannabe rider from a scrappy, hand-to-mouth family, as he pursues his dream of joining the Boys. He's a winning hero, but the film itself is a little too rough around the edges to fully engage. Fascinating subject, though.