Movie about 1967 Detroit riots filming in the city

The riots of 1967 changed Detroit forever.

Tanks rolled down the streets and armed troops were on patrol to stop the violence, fires and looting. Forty-three

The Academy Award-winning team behind the film "Zero Dark Thirty" is turning the city's harrowing history into a movie.

The majority of the movie was filmed in the Boston area, but this week the untitled Detroit project finally comes to Detroit.

Under arrest amid civil unrest, the riots of 1967 are the subject of the untitled Detroit project - filming Wednesday at the 10th Precinct.

"I like it, my officers like it, they actually talked to officers from the past to make sure they get things right," said Assistant Police Chief Steve Dolunt.

Dolunt remembers that dark time in the city's history - one from which many believe the city is still recovering.

"We had moved to Detroit in '67 right before the civil unrest," he said. "So I remember all this stuff - but it's good - this story needs to be told."

It is a story that will soon be in the national spotlight, the rioting that erupted after Detroit police raided a blind pig in the city's poorest neighborhood. Allegations of excessive force led to uprisings that left the city in flames, dozens of people dead, a thousand hurt and seven thousand under arrest.

Five brutal days and nights of protests, looting and violence.

"It needs to be told," said resident Greg Carter. "A lot of stuff needs to be told - needs to be brought up."

Carter watched the actors in front of the precinct, the National Guard, the police uniforms - the police vehicles - it's 1967 Detroit - from the wardrobe to the script, written and directed by the same team from The Hurt Locker and Zero Dark Thirty - Oscar winners Mark Boal and Kathryn Bigelow.

Film incentives kept the movie in Boston for most of the shooting - but several scenes are being shot this week in Detroit.

"If you look around America and see what's happening, the timing has never been more appropriate," said Marlowe Stoudamire. "If you look at the conditions of '67 and the conditions of today - the time has never been more appropriate."

Marlowe Stoudamire is the project director for Detroit '67 Looking Back to Move Forward at the Detroit Historical Museum. They've been consultants on the film but are working on a much broader project for the 50th anniversary of the riots next year....

"People have to understand that this is one story," he said. "Our project is capturing multiple stories. We've already captured over 200 oral histories of people's perspectives of what happened then. We have over 100 community partners and we're going to have a blockbuster exhibition to take people back in time.

"We are not relying on just the movie to tell Detroit's story, we can tell our own story."