Watch this entire Truly CA episode: First Friday by filmmakers N'Jeri Eaton and Mario Furloni. (Running Time: 53:09)
Oakland made it onto two "top" lists: Top Five travel destinations in the U.S., and Top Five most dangerous cities. Once a month, those two realities meet at First Friday.
What started as simple art crawl on the first Friday of every month has grown into a cross-cultural and intergenerational event drawing thousands of people to downtown Oakland for food, entertainment and every kind of art imaginable. The event's popularity has fueled the city's larger cultural and economic renaissance. But after a teenager was murdered during one of the events, the future of First Fridays is uncertain.
First Friday follows several Oakland residents as they prepare for one evening's event and confront the tension between gentrification and inequality.