The story of four young African American lesbians who became criminals for defending themselves.
OUT IN THE NIGHT (formerly titled
The Fire This Time) follows the journey of a group of African American teenagers who went to a gay-friendly neighborhood in New York City for a night out. These lesbian and gender non-conforming friends, Patreese, Renata, Terrain and Venice, were confronted by an older man on the street. They defended themselves. Strangers jumped in to support them and a fight ensued. Only the women were rounded up by police and charged and convicted as perpetrators of gang assault. They became known as The New Jersey 4.
OUT IN THE NIGHT follows their journey to Rikers Island, to the courtroom, and through slanderous media coverage that labeled them a "Wolfpack" and "Lesbian Gang". While exploring the fight from all sides through the security camera footage that captured it, that hot August night in 2006 can be seen from many perspectives. But our film's purpose is to examine the events after the fight: biased media coverage likening the women to "man-hating" animals, and unprecedentedly harsh sentencing by the court. This story shows how four young, queer women of color were unfairly criminalized for defending themselves.
2014, USA, Doc
Director: Blair Doroshwalther
Producers: Blair Doroshwalther, Giovanna Chesler, Yoruba Richen
starring Renata, Patreese, Terrain & Venice, Angela Davis, FIERCE
Director of Photography: Daniel Patterson
Prod : The Fire This Time The Film, LLC
AWARDS / FUNDINGJoyce Warshow Fund - Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice, Sundance Documentary Fund with Cinereach, Frameline Finishing Fund, Women in Film Finishing Fund, The Jerome Foundation, NYSCA, the ARTS Council of the Southern Fingerlakes, The Yip Harburg Foundation, Women in Film Finishing Funds
KICKSTARTER508 Backers ($26,923 pledged of $23,700 goal)
This project successfully raised its funding goal on May 3, 2013.
www.kickstarter.com/projects/blairdoroshwalther/out-in-the-night-a-the-fire-this-time-film