In No Loans Today the mother of a murdered gang member points out the tag of her dead son on a parking-lot wall: "It is really shocking to see this on the wall-it hurts to-but this is South Central L.A." Three youths enter a pawnshop to check out hand guns, leaving when they are advised they are too young to purchase them. Using the pawnshop as a metaphor for survival, Lisanne Skyler creates a compelling document of the African American community of South Central Los Angeles. Her exploration centers on the black-owned ABC Loan Co., a pawnshop and check-cashing outlet, also known as a "fringe bank." The pawnshop is related to a cycle of economic marginalization, and associated crime and unemployment, which intensified when industries left the area and banks redlined the district against business loans following the 1992 riots. Skyler deftly weaves together interviews with people who have either chosen or been forced to stay in the community. What emerges is much more than a sensitive sociological analysis or a hard-hitting indictment of racism in Clintonian America: this is a starkly emotional portrait of economic and psychological marginalization. Austere compositions and smart editing turn this film into a powerful tribute to the unrecognized strength and resiliency of the community.-Vancouver Film Festival 1995