When a Chinese-American police officer kills an unarmed Black man in a darkened stairwell of a New York City housing project, it sets off a firestorm of emotion and calls for accountability. In 2014, Peter Liang became the first NYPD officer convicted of an on duty shooting in over a decade, inciting a complicated fight for justice wherein two subjugated communities were thrust into the uneven criminal justice system together. Down a Dark Stairwell captures both one of the largest Asian-American protests in history and a key event in the emerging Black Lives Matter movement. In this unflinching documentary directed by Ursula Liang, the insidious effects of white supremacy in American society are starkly revealed, persisting even when the participants on both sides of a conflict are people of color.
Premiere: FEB 05 @ 7:30PM ET
On Demand Through: FEB 07 @ 10:00PM ET
FRI FEB 05 @ 9:15PM ET LIVE POST-FILM PANEL
Following the 7:30pm premiere, Director Ursula Liang and moderator Umass Boston Professor Denise Khor will join in a live conversation about the film. This conversation will be ASL interpreted and will be recorded and available on demand with the film through SUN FEB 07.
For more information, click here.
SHARED STORIES Film Series is a collaborative effort of Boston Asian American Film Festival, Boston Latino International Film Festival, Roxbury International Film Festival with ArtsEmerson.
UMASS Boston is a community partner for this engagement, UMASS Boston supporters include Cinema Studies Program, Asian American Studies Program, American Studies Department, and the Mellon Foundation.