Lotfy Nathan’s intriguing documentary 12 O’CLOCK BOYS shows a subculture in Baltimore that few people know about.
This film presents a stirring, intimate view of a notorious urban dirt bike crew, seen through the eyes of a young boy determined to join their ranks.
After its critically acclaimed premiere at SXSW, the film won numerous awards on the festival circuit (including the Emerging Artist Award at Hot Docs)
To Baltimore locals, the 12 O’Clock Boys are hooligans, a group of urban dirt-bikers that perform death-defying stunts at excessive speeds through traffic and impressively evade the hamstrung police, who must adhere to a no-chase policy to maintain public safety.
Yet they are heroes to Pug, a bright, young adolescent living in the city’s dangerous Westside neighborhood with his charismatic mother Coco, extended family, and a menagerie of animals to which he tends in his long-standing hope to be a veterinarian.
As Pug’s obsession with the 12 O’Clock Boys grows, his desire to join the bikers begins eclipsing everything else in his life, much to Coco’s dismay.
Filled with dynamic footage that puts the viewer on up-close ride-alongs with the bikers, 12 O’CLOCK BOYS provides a compelling personal story of a young boy and his dangerous, thrilling dream.
