In 1999, 15-year-old Akil “Smurf” Sanford and his 9-year-old brother Emmanuel Durant were joined in a pickup basketball game on a Southeast D.C. court by filmmaker Davy Rothbart. This chance meeting led to a friendship and to Rothbart, with his new video camera, being invited over to dinner with the brothers and their family. Rothbart soon began leaving the camera with the family, including mom Cheryl and daughter Denice. They began recording their lives, including daily routines, stressful arguments, celebratory moments, and a harrowing, traumatic incident. […]