Out in the night / ITVS ; New Day Films ; a production of The Fire This Time, Fork Films, G6 Pictures, Promised Land Films ; producer, Giovanna Chesler, Mridu Chandra, Yoruba Richen ; a film by Blair Dorosh-Walther.
Renata Hill, Patreese Johnson, Terrain Dandridge, Venice Brown, Kimma Walker. Originally produced in the United States as a motion picture and released in 2014. [On some copies]: "For library and classroom use only; not for broadcast, resale, public exhibition or special events; do not duplicate.
Contents:
Out in the night -- "This is my friends, this is my family" -- "There's no calling the police, because they never come" -- "It's a safe haven for us" -- "No means no" -- "I was scared" -- "I claimed self-defense" -- "The headline writers had a very good time" -- "Gays taking over" -- "You woulda thought it was a movie" -- I'll be there and back again -- "You're considered state property" -- "Young, black, lesbian...and always on guard" -- "We gotta be repeating history" -- "Free the NJ4!" -- "We won our appeal" -- "I look like a human being now I'm not an inmate" -- "They said, 'Pack up, you're going home'" -- "It's all nonsense" -- "I felt alive" -- "I'm ready to go" -- "NJ4 Finally Free"
Summary:
"The story of 4 friends, out for a night in NYC, who became known as a "Gang of Killer Lesbians" when they defended themselves."--Kickstarter campaign page. "Out in the Night is a documentary that tells the story of a group of young friends, African American lesbians who are out, one hot August night in 2006, in the gay friendly neighborhood of New York City. They are all in their late teens and early twenties and come from a low-income neighborhood in Newark, New Jersey. Two of the women are the focus -- gender non-conforming Renata Hill, a single mother with a soft heart and keen sense of humor, and petite femme Patreese Johnson, a shy and tender poet. As they and their friends walk under the hot neon lights of tattoo parlors in the West Village, an older man sexually and violently confronts them. He says to Patreese "let me get some of that" as he points below her waist. When she says that they are gay, the man becomes violent and threatens to "fuck them straight". He spits and throws a lit cigarette. Renata and Venice defend the group and a fight begins, captured by security cameras nearby. The man yanks out hair from Venice's head and chokes Renata. Then, Patreese pulls a knife from her purse and swings at him. Strangers jump in to defend the women and the fight escalates. As the fight comes to an end, all get up and walk away. But 911 has been called and the man involved has a puncture wound from the knife. Police swarm to the scene as their radios blast out warning of a gang attack. The women are rounded up and charged with gang assault, assault and attempted murder. Three of the women plead guilty. But Renata, Patreese, Venice and Terrain claim their innocence. They are called a "Gang of Killer Lesbians" by the media. In activist circles they become known as The New Jersey 4 (NJ4). Through the lives of these four young women, Out in the Night reveals how their race, gender identity and sexuality became criminalized in the mainstream news media and criminal legal system."--The filmmaker's website.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.