Out in the Night, Part of GMU's Visiting Filmmakers Series, Receives National Praise

by Reem Nadeem

Out in the Night, Part of GMU's Visiting Filmmakers Series, Receives National Praise

Out in the Night, an award winning documentary produced by Mason’s Director of Film and Video Studies, was screened at Mason as part of the Visiting Filmmakers Series.

Out in the Night has been screened at several film festivals and won multiple awards, including Best Feature at the Queer People of Color Film Festival and the Jury Award for Excellence: Best Documentary at the Seattle Lesbian and Gay Film Festival.

According to Film Producer and Director of Film and Video Studies, Giovanna Chesler, the documentary tells the story of a group of African American lesbian friends, the New Jersey 4, who were out in the West Village of New York City in 2006 and were harassed on the street by an older man. When the man realized the women were gay, his threats become violent and sexual. A fight broke out between the man and the women. Though others on the street jumped in to defend the women, the police arrested and charged the women with gang assault and attempted murder.

Three other women who were with the NJ4 accepted plea agreements but Renata Hill, Patreese Johnson, Terrain Dandridge and Venice Brown were put on trial and convicted by both the courts and tabloid media. According to Mason’s Film and Media Studies website, the NJ4 were dubbed a “Gang of Killer Lesbians,” by media.

“The media called them a gang, particularly the tabloid media. And the New York Times called the man ‘an admirer,’” Chesler said.

The story of the NJ4 raises several different social issues, including racial and gender identity disparities in the legal system.

“So the story of the New Jersey 4 is interesting because it raises questions about who has the right to defend themselves and also how the media contributes to, I think, egregious sentencing in the courtroom. How gender identity, race and class really make it so that people don’t have power in the courtroom, they can’t claim self defense,” Chesler said.

Read more of Reem Nadeem's article here.

 

Out in the Night and blair dorosh-walther at George Mason University is sponsored by Film & Media Studies and Film & Video Studies. The event is cosponsored by African and African American Studies, Communication, Criminology, Law and Society, Cultural Studies, English, History and Art History, Honors College, LGBTQ Resource Office, Psychology, University Life, and Women & Gender Studies.