Showtime Slots L.A. Riots Doc ‘Burn Motherf*cker Burn!’ for April 21

Showtime premieres the documentary Burn Motherf*cker Burn!, a close-up of a clash between the LAPD and Los Angeles residents in 1992, on Friday, April 21. The documentary runs 90 minutes and is produced and directed by Sacha Jenkins. 

Burn Motherf*cker Burn! begins by exploring the complicated relationship between the Los Angeles Police Department and the city’s minority communities, including the 1962 ransacking of a Los Angeles Nation of Islam mosque and the 1965 Watts riots. The story continues with the rise of L.A. street gangs in the 1970s and 80s and the Rodney King beating in 1991. 

On April 29, 1992, four LAPD officers were acquitted by a Simi Valley jury on charges of assault, lighting the fuse for the uprising that lasted for days.  

The conflict is seen through the lens of three generations of local residents, community organizers, artists and influencers. The film features interviews with Danny Bakewell Sr., Rep. Karen Bass, LAPD Chief Charlie Beck, Jeff Chang, Perry Farrell, Everlast, B-Real, Cle “Bone” Sloan, KAM, YoYo, Dee Barnes, Norwood Fisher, Dee Dee McNeil, Aqeela Sherrills, Mike Davis, Connie Rice and Norma Mtume.  

The film is executive produced by Misha Louyon behalf of Mass Appeal.

Michael Malone

Michael Malone, senior content producer at B+C/Multichannel News, covers network programming, including entertainment, news and sports on broadcast, cable and streaming; and local broadcast television. He hosts the podcasts Busted Pilot, about what’s new in television, and Series Business, a chat with the creator of a new program, and writes the column “The Watchman.” He joined B+C in 2005. His journalism has also appeared in The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Playboy and New York magazine.