South Main

South Central LA, home to serious problems of gang violence, but also to three single black women and their families, trying to make a fresh start on a relocation allowance they were given after their previous apartment block was demolished to cut crime in the area. This absorbing documentary gives them a voice as their everyday struggles continue, while Parker’s composed images record the texture of local lives with a lucid compassion which recalls the work of Charles Burnett. Resisting hyped-up drama, it’s a low-key portrait, but a valuable one.