Rising up for the truth:

A new documentary screening on SoHo this week looks at the unrest in Baltimore in April 2015 following the death of Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old African American who died in hospital after being arrested by police.

Documentary looks at Baltimore unrest following an arrest and death.

Sonja Sohn has gone from being in front of the camera to behind it. The actress, who played a Baltimore detective in The Wire and went on to roles in Body Of Proof, Burn Notice and The Originals, is the driving force behind the documentary film Baltimore Rising.

When Freddie Gray died in April 2015, Baltimore exploded into civil unrest. Baltimore Rising covers Gray’s death, the protests and riots that followed, efforts to keep the peace during the unsuccessful prosecutions of the six police officers involved, and subsequent state and federal government efforts to change policing procedures.

When Sohn revealed her plans to make the film, those close to her were worried, but she was unfazed.

“I think that we’re all here for a purpose and I feel like my purpose is to make the world a better place and to fight for justice and truth and freedom,” she says.

Sohn says that from the beginning she wanted to tell the story of local activists, police officers, and community residents and the film shows citizens grappling with the city’s history of police brutality, institutionalised crime, and decades of economic disenfranchisement.

“I felt like that it treated everybody fairly,” says Sohn’s co-executive producer George Pelecanos (The Wire, Treme, The Deuce).

“You know, there aren’t any sides really. The people in Baltimore are in this together. The problems are deep rooted and there are things we can do about them.

“But it’s not about a certain administration or anything like that. It’s about the system.

“At the end of this, you get a sense of hope. You really do. Because I wouldn’t have wanted to be involved in something that was nihilistic, you know, that just said, ‘Well, there’s nothing that can be done’. Obviously, you’ve got some very bright people up here who feel otherwise.”