Coming to theatres today, Friday, November 29:
AFTER PARKLAND
Directors:
Emily Taguchi and Jake Lefferman
World Premiere:
Tribeca 2019
Select Festivals:
Hot Docs, Traverse City, Denver, Camden, Martha’s Vineyard, AFI Docs, Key West
About:
A profile of several survivors and family members as they reckon with the school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
Initially coming to Parkland, FL via their work for Nightline, filmmakers Emily Taguchi and Jake Lefferman focused in on students, including David Hogg, Sam Zeif, and Brooke Harrison, as well as Andrew and Manuel, parents of victims, to construct this portrait of the aftermath of the tragedy. Between heart-rending accounts of their experiences and their engagement in activism in different ways, the film captures its subjects’ grief and attempts to channel it. This is not the first nor the last film on the tragedy, and, combined with extensive media coverage, with Hogg in particular becoming a very visible public figure in the meantime, it unfortunately feels a bit too familiar. Making its world premiere this past April, only a little over a year after the event, it’s a thoughtful and genuine project, but might have benefited from more time and further development.
