New documentary follows 2 teens during ICE operations in Midwest

So thrilled to introduce you to a longtime friend, Jeff Christian, who joins us here from L.A. You're in L.A. Los Angeles. Yes. Yes. Jeff is a film director and producer, longtime photojournalist. And Jeff and myself and Karen Scullin, we told so many stories together in the streets of Minneapolis and St. Paul over the years. It's been a while ago. It's been a You left us to join our friends and competitors over at KARE 11 and then Seattle and then NBC News. You worked for NBC News for a while and made the transition into film work and documentary work, right? Yeah, it's been a road. It's been a road and we're not done yet. It can be a bumpy one sometimes too. But I miss being here. It's so nice to be back with you all and this station is like coming home. coming home. It's just such a wonderful place and wonderful people. And still is home for me. 22 years now. And Karen's been here 21, I think. Yeah. Yeah. Dawn Mitchell started literally a couple of months before I did. So she's coming up in her 23rd anniversary next month. And Rob Olson, I think, is pushing 30 years maybe. Just saw Maury Glover. Maury Glover has been here. Yeah. Yeah. It's a great thing about this company here at Fox nine is so many of us here have found a home and, um, and it's become family, you know, we, uh, and we've just never left. I mean, the turnover here is almost non-existent. So we, um, it's great to be in the company of storytellers yourself. You you've got an incredible story. Um, that's going to air this week, screened this week at the Twin Cities Film Festival, it's about two brothers, right? Yeah. And it's about two brothers that some of you may have heard of here during Operation Metro Surge. And they got their start during Operation Midway Blitz in Chicago. And two brothers who saw what was happening with the immigration enforcement and essentially said, we need to do something. At very least, we need to document this. Pick up the story from there. Yeah, so thanks, Tim. These two brothers, at the time they were 16, 17 years old. Ben and Sam Lohman. Ben and Sam, yes. They are from outside Chicago. They come from a family of eight children. And they are such wonderful, incredible human beings. Most of them are homeschooled. And when things began in Chicago, sort of the immigration activity, they noticed some of their neighbors had gone missing. Or people in the community began talking about, hey, my uncle here, my relative, and so forth. And they kind of said, well, what can we do to help? Or what is our role in this? So they went out and began just sort of documenting it, almost being like journalists in some ways, or photo journalists. Took their phones, their GoPros that they had on, and they would, they're sort of there to observe, not getting in the way, but really just documented what was happening. And over time, they started to accrue all of this footage and hours and hours and hours of footage. And it really became, it was like, well, what do we do with this? And they started sharing it with other news outlets. They started sharing it with just about anybody that would look. Initially, Jeff, did Sam and Ben, did they post this in like TikTok or Facebook? A little bit. Instagram. Yeah, they have started sharing on Instagram and they are doing that more and more. The initial approach was really to try to, they found out that if we can get this to news outlets and they did, this can go around the world. Our footage can be seen around the world. And what was remarkable was seeing these two, again, these two teenager boys out there in the front lines where most adults probably would not go. And I think that's what even journalists as myself would consider this a very difficult situation. But in the Twin Cities, we did have a lot of adults who said, I want to go. That's true. And because of their efforts, the people of the city in Minneapolis and St. Paul and Minnesota were awarded the Profile in Courage Award this year by Kennedy Library. Yeah. Right, for their activism, for that support. I think this is a good moment to show you a clip from the documentary. It's called my brother's camera, here it is, we don't have it yet, okay, we're gonna get to that here in a moment. We're still cutting. Guys, let me know, let me know when we got that ready and we'll go to that. But yeah, so what really intrigues me about all of this is that their parents said, yes. Right. Yes, you're doing something that's noble. This is important. Be careful, but go do it and go document it. Yeah, it's interesting meeting their parents, Audrey and Andrew, and they have a very strong faith. Their faith is very important to them and where they come from, sort of from their childhood into raising eight children and so forth, they're Christians. But the way that they see the world is if we're Christians and we have a strong faith, well, we shouldn't just talk about it. We shouldn't just believe that this is the right thing or the wrong thing. We should actually maybe go out and try to help people. And this is how they discovered that they could. And the amazing thing is once you see their footage, I mean, I have an 11-year-old daughter and a six-year-old daughter. I can't imagine them being teenagers and letting them out, but having them go out into this world. I think Ben and Sam were very brave, I also think their parents were very brave. The day that Renee Goode died and was killed, the brothers, Ben and Sam decided that they were gonna drive to Minneapolis to document the weeks that followed here. And that's really kind of where we found them and sort of picked up the film. And that's a great moment to introduce the film clip now. We have it ready to show you. It's called My Brother's Camera. Here's a couple of clips. And we knew that at any minute they could shoot and kill somebody if they wanted to. I remember just like eating dinner and thinking like, that could have been us. We do that. Something snapped and we were like, okay, we have to actually go out there. We begin tonight with tensions boiling over in Minnesota. But local, state, and federal officials are providing starkly different accounts of what happened. It's their word against ours. federal government calling this shooting a justified act of self-defense so cameras really are our weapon we were like you know what maybe this is how we get people to see what is actually happening to our neighbors gonna stop unless people decide that it's gonna stop that's the fight for Ben and Sam Loman my brother's camera Jeff Christian the director of this film at the Twin Cities Film Festival this week where did you meet them how did you run across them And at what moment did you say, I got to tell their story? It's a good question. I think, I mean, Tim, you know, we would, going back years and years for myself as a journalist and a photojournalist, you would go out and find a story and meet someone. You go, wow, this is a, these are great characters. This is a great story. And it sort of came across them. They had had a little bit of press locally, maybe in Chicago, maybe a little bit here. and i think i saw them on the old-fashioned instagram and uh i thought oh gosh you know is anyone doing anything with these guys in terms of you know uh films or documentaries and we reached out to the uh talked to their dad first um and spoke with him and we had a zoom call with them and um once we had the blessing of um of the parents to say okay you know we we think you can tell our story um then um we were kind of off to the races it's um it's a powerful film and um the boy's mother is very prominent uh here and she said um basically um talking about the difficult parenting choice to remove their innocence and expose them to what was happening to their neighbors in Chicago and ultimately here in in Minnesota too you know you you talked about being a parent of an 11 and six-year-old girl i'm a girl dad too yep um and maybe it's different with sons but i don't know if if i was in those same shoes if i would let my daughters do that you i think ultimately not just what you see on camera what you what people will will see down the road in the film. But it's really, I think the bravery here is not just obviously with Ben and Sam and their family, but really with thousands and millions of Americans across the country. And obviously here in Minneapolis and the Twin Cities who looked after one another and did their best to take care of one another. Minneapolis and the Twin Cities has been through a lot over the last few years. And I think the one thing I know about this town and this state is that when people are in need they they come together and i think um there's a lot of heroism uh with the with the boys and i think also with this film tim you kind of mentioned is they you know this is kind of a it's a in a way it's kind of a coming of age story it's not just about immigration and things like that but it's also about you know what do you believe in and are you willing to sort of act on uh the things that that you believe and and and and do so in a way that puts you at risk. So what was the turning point for them? I mean, you said that they were going out in Chicago and initially just kind of shooting with cell phones. At some point, they had a conversion, right? Where they said, we've got to do some more. Right. Did they share with you what that conversion moment was? The biggest part of, that's a great question, Tim. I think the biggest part of why they came to Minnesota and why not only that, but why they kept going was because they saw that this wasn't slowing down and that Minnesota not in Chicago and Illinois, there was a surge there. But as they went into Minnesota, they realized there's going to be a lot more need for people like us and other people documenting because they also realized that the press can't get to every location. The press can't get here and here. So it was really, I think they both realized this This is not slowing down. So that they were a force multiplier. Exactly. Right. Yeah. At one point in the documentary, they described their cameras more than just cameras, but it was described as a weapon, right? Yeah, I think that's another part of this, which is cameras is a very powerful tool. And I know in society, we're talking about artificial intelligence and we're talking about all these different ways that images are manipulated. But to this day, photography, cameras, journalism, news gathering, it's all incredibly important and facts are important. And so I think that was the important thing that they realized a camera can be a weapon, but it's a weapon to hopefully use for good. So if this is a coming of age story, these boys were exposed to a lot, right? So there's a lot of pushback that no doubt they experienced there. And there was a lot of growing up that occurred over this period of time. How did they react to that? I think, and I don't wanna speak for them, but I think that they're still processing a lot of that. I think Ben, especially who is the older brother, he was gonna go into college. It was his time to sort of go off and that moment where you sort of say goodbye to your hometown. Leave the nest, so to speak. Exactly. And he's decided that he's gonna stay back and continue to do this work for the next year. So I think they're still in process as to what they're doing and how it's all meaningful, not just to them, but also to their neighbors and their community. What surprised you, Jeff, as a storyteller, as a director about this? I mean, you got hooked by them instantly when you heard their story. But we all make discoveries as storytellers and find transition points and things that we didn't expect to perhaps learn to discover. And I have to believe that there were many for you, too. Yeah. You know, it's interesting. I didn't think about this until we were well into this process. But I think I looked at them a little bit of how I looked at myself when I was that age. I started in television news when I was very young, 14, 15, yeah, they probably shouldn't let me in the door, but they did, and I was a photographer, and so I think seeing them and their passion and their tenacity to find people and story and be able to sort of, they're not telling stories, but by their imagery, they are, and that I think resonated a lot, to sort of say like, these kids are becoming adults. I have to believe there were moments where they were scared. Yeah, I mean, they're still out there, they're still doing this work. And I think there is fear, but they're also, again, they also have this presence with them that they just kind of say, this is what we were meant to do right now. And again, going back to through their church, through community leaders, they've seen things happen in the world and around them and they can't go overseas. They can't go across the country, but they know what they can do in their community and they know what they can do in a drivable distance and this is what they decided to do. This whole immigration enforcement surge, it generated emotions from a lot of different areas on a lot of different sides. Look, there are people who support what the administration is doing, and obviously those here in the Twin Cities in Chicago who do not. I have to believe that they confronted some people who questioned what they were doing and maybe threatened them as well. Yeah, I think that there's always inevitably when you put yourself out there, there's always going to be that chance of comments, threats, etc. But they really come back to, again, the principles of why they started doing this. They started doing this because they saw people in their community, families that were separated. And eventually, as this develops, some family members started coming home. Some people started coming back to their communities because they realized they didn't need to be detained. So I think it's a difficult situation to be in in some respects, but also they're just doing what they believe in and what they want to honor. So again, if this is kind of a coming-of-age story, how has it changed them? You said Ben has decided not to go to college for now. What about Sam? Yeah, so Sam is, he's still at home and with the family. I think the biggest thing that's changed them, that's evolved for them, is the sense of the world can be a beautiful place. It can be a wonderful place. And just a couple of years ago, they were learning about all the wonderful, great stories that the world has to offer. But as a couple of years went by, they began to realize it's a little more complicated. It's not that black and white. And the world can be a little bit complicated, and they've definitely discovered that. And hopefully this film recognizes that you can see the world through them and see the courage and really the joy when they get to meet other people and experience people that they've never met, that they come together and get to help. So how many hours of video did they shoot that you went through as a director to try and find the moments to tell this story? Yeah, well, we have two incredible editors that worked on this film, Zaki and Carlos, and amazing editors based in Los Angeles. And they went through a lot of it. I went through a lot of it as well. I mean, dozens and dozens of hours that they captured. But it was also kind of looking at what were the stories and what were the people that they interacted with. Because there were hundreds of people that they came in contact with. But who were the people that really, that their lives changed as a result of this? And that's what we tried to use in the film. Did they meet people along the way that they were able to, I don't know, perhaps keep from getting detained or deported with their work? Yeah, so one of the things that Ben is doing right now is that if someone is able to leave a detention center or is not detained any longer, he will drive hours and hours and hours to pick them up because they may not have family, they may not have friends, they may not have a phone with them. so he's actually you know he somehow he's able to find out that this person is coming out and they will he will drive perhaps in the middle of the night uh to go get them and take them back to their home it's it's pretty remarkable i have to ask as a director um who helped shepherd this project along how has this changed you um tough question that's a good question yeah um i i think I think it's changed me largely time and time again, I think we see younger people stepping up into arenas, into areas that they don't need to do and they don't have to do this. But they do it anyway, they volunteer to do it. And that to me gives me a lot of inspiration and hope with this country no matter, you know this is not meant to be a political film, but it really is, how can other generations take care of one another? can younger generations make a difference coming through this process? I think that's the thing that's really been impactful is watching them grow. It's called My Brother's Camera, and it's screening this week, the Twin Cities Film Festival. Thank you, Tim. How can people see it? Well, that's the million dollar question. We are hoping to get it out into communities across the country. We're going to be premiering soon, hopefully. So we're doing this private screening coming up here and then down the road hopefully we'll have more news coming soon also one thing i should add Soledad O'Brien and her team uh out in new york are partnering with us which we're really thrilled about and um so they'll be more soon it's too bad Soledad doesn't know how to tell a story yeah she's amazing she's amazing incredible journalist right incredible journalist again my brother's camera jeff christian long time friend thank you tim um outstanding journalist in his own right we are so grateful to have you here great to catch up again my friend thank you sir all right nice to see you you're watching fox 9 all day we're going to come back with more here in just a moment