Growing up in Jamaica, Queens, in the 70s and 80s, Corey Pegues played Cops and Robbers like all the other kids on the block, but he never expected to become both.
A spirited child, he came of age surrounded by his mother’s and sisters’ love and by true friendship on the basketball court. He had to learn to navigate a world built on street cred, violence, loyalty and the fight for survival. But his true search began the day he decided to run away.
In the documentary Cops and Robbers, Corey Pegues’ exceptional life story questions how and why we change. To what extent is personal transformation possible? And who gets a second chance in America?
The director, Ilinca Calugareanu, is a Romanian based in the UK. Her previous short documentary for the Guardian, Erica: Man Made, was about one of the world’s most advanced semi-autonomous androids. Her debut documentary feature, Chuck Norris vs Communism, about the black market trade in VHS of western action films in communist Romania, premiered at the Sundance film festival in 2015.
Coming up: Little Pyongyang
Joong-wha, a former soldier in North Korea, lives today with his wife and children in a sleepy London suburb, home to Europe’s biggest North Korean population. Despite enjoying the newfound comforts of his British life and being emancipated from the pressures of the North Korean state, he has a desire to return to the land that betrayed him and that feels like his true home.
Released 3 August
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