NO LOANS TODAY American Cinema

Surprisingly intimate and non-judgmental, this document of life in the African-American community
of South Central Los Angeles offers a revealing exploration of the unseen resilience of
the people who live here, with the pawnshop as a metaphor for survival. Since the riots of the
1960’s the pawnshop, or “fringe banks”, have become a hub of the community, where a person
can survive between paychecks and still maintain a sense of dignity and honesty. Shown with
Bryan W Simon’s The Second Room, (1994, Color, 22 min.), about an isolated architect who
discovers the “second room” and finds his own completion. Also, Sherri M. Breyer’s The
Dresden, (U.SA, 1995, 10 min.), an unforgettable journey through the last great Hollywood
lounge, unchanged for 40 years.