Poetic License by Simon Schorno
Poetic License by Simon Schorno, University of Southern California, 16mm, 25:50 minutes, Documentary
Manazar Gamboa’s hard-edged life has collided with the fate of Chavez Raine – an inner-city Los Angeles barrio forcibly leveled in 1959 to build Dodger Stadium. Poetic License is an intimate portrait of Manazar writing his life experiences through poetry. After growing up in Chavez Ravine in the forties and surviving heroin addiction and street life, he discovered writing while serving time in prison for armed robbery. He now works with inner-city kids to help them, too, come to terms with life through art. Dramatized writings, archival footage and personal testament combine to chronicle an overlooked period of Los Angeles history and a Chicano artist’s personal life.