Independent Lens
Dallas, 2019
This five-week observation of the city of Dallas and its people studies the complexities of society and the human experience.
Evolution of a Criminal
In this gripping blend of documentary, true crime, and personal essay, a filmmaker confronts his past, dissecting the circumstances that led him to commit a bank robbery as a young man, and his journey of reflection and forgiveness.
- Series
- Independent Lens
- Premiere Date
- January 12, 2015
- Length
- 90 minutes
Director
Darius Clark Monroe
Darius Clark Monroe is a documentary and fiction producer/director. Monroe’s films grapple with the innumerable experiences and environments that shape our psyche and behavior, oftentimes investigating fear, vulnerability, spirituality, and media through varied visual techniques and instruments.
- Other ITVS Films
- Dallas, 2019
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The Film
How does a 16-year-old evolve into a bank robber?
In Evolution of a Criminal, filmmaker Darius Clark Monroe explores what led him to pull a heist as a teenager in Texas, and returns to the scene of the crime. By interviewing family members, close friends, and mentors, we learn about his transformation from a joyous childhood to the moment he realized the severity of his family’s financial problems, and how their struggles changed his outlook on his own life.
Returning to his neighborhood several years after the crime, Monroe creates an incredibly intimate and personal journey of reflection and forgiveness while beautifully examining lower class struggles, the desperation of a teen under pressure, and the emotional impact that rippled in the aftermath of that day.
