When Liberty Burns
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | When Liberty Burns |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 2020 |
| length | 111 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Dudley Alexis |
When Liberty Burns is a documentary by Dudley Alexis that premiered at the Miami Film Festival in March 2020.
Historical
On December 21, 1979, just before Christmas, the African-American insurance agent Arthur McDuffie died after an eight-minute car chase on the night of December 17, 1979 in Miami after being violated by four white cops. Contrary to her claim that 33-year-old McDuffie died in a motorcycle accident, the coroner found that his injuries were not caused by an accident. In their testimony, the police gradually admitted that they stopped him on the corner of North Miami Avenue and 38th Street and then not only knocked him down but beat him to death. Police officers arriving later had manipulated the crime scene in such a way that the whole thing looked like an accident. Attorney General Janet Reno then charged four police officers who, since 1973, had amassed more than 40 citizen complaints and 13 internal investigations against them. Due to the "race riots" in Miami, the trial took place in Tampa . Nevertheless, a jury consisting of only six white men acquitted on May 17, 1980 on all counts.
In the trial of the four police officers in charge from Dade County, Miami, medical expert Ronald Wright compared the injuries McDuffie had suffered from police batons and punches with those of a fall from the fourth floor. He went on to say that McDuffie had suffered the worst skull injuries he had seen in more than 3,600 autopsies. After the acquittal, nearly 5,000 people marched angrily through the streets of Miami's black ghetto Liberty City . White shops and administrative buildings in Miami-Dade County were looted that night , despite the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and civil rights activist Jesse Jackson calling for calm. After Governor Bob Graham mobilized the National Guard, the violence halted until May 20. The riots had resulted in a total of 18 dead, 400 injured and 800 arrests, as well as property damage valued at 80 million US dollars .
As a result of these riots, Liberty City was portrayed as a desolate and dangerous district in the true crime series Homicide .
production
Dudley Alexis made his directorial debut with When Liberty Burns .
The premiere took place on March 7, 2020 at the Miami Film Festival. At the end of August 2020, the film was presented as part of the online edition of the American Black Film Festival .
Awards
Miami Film Festival 2020
- Best Documentary Nomination for the Knight Documentary Achievement Award ( Dudley Alexis )
- Received the Knight Made in MIA Feature Film Award (Dudley Alexis)
Web links
- When Liberty Burns in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Liberty City. In: Der Spiegel, May 26, 2007.
- ^ Ashley Howard, The Long, Painful History of Racial Unrest. Smithsonian Magazine, Aug. 28, 2020.
- ↑ Mumia Abu-Jamal: War Against Blacks: Trayvon Martin is just one of countless victims of racist violence in the United States. In: Junge Welt, April 21, 2012.
- ^ Ashley Howard, The Long, Painful History of Racial Unrest. Smithsonian Magazine, Aug. 28, 2020.
- ↑ Mathias Kuzina: 'True crime' dish films in the US. In: Verbrechen - Justiz - Medien: Constellations in Germany from 1900 to the present . Edited by Joachim Linder, Claus-Michael Ort and Max Niemeyer, Tübingen, 1999.
- ↑ https://deadline.com/2020/07/american-black-film-festival-yusuf-hawkins-storm-over-brooklyn-farewell-abff-1202992546/
- ↑ 'When Liberty Burns' and 'La Llorona' Win Top Jury Awards At 37th Miami Film Festival; 'The Fight' and '90 Minutes' Take Audience Awards. In: miamifilmfestival.com, March 23, 2020.