Trans Lives Matter! Justice for Islan Nettles

In August 2013, a transgender woman named Islan Nettles was beaten to death in front of a police precinct in Harlem, NYC. Nigerian filmmaker Seyi Adebanjo documented a vigil that was held several days after Nettles's death in Jackie Robinson Park, not far from the murder site. This documentary short primarily relies on still photographs taken of the event, images that brilliantly embody the pain, anger, and solidarity felt by vigil attendees. For the most part, the occasion is orderly and respectful, although at one point a woman loudly protests the comments being made by a gay black male speaker at the gathering—and here the film switches from still photography to a video recording of the tumult created by the protestor's anger. While the brief film offers relatively little detail on Nettles's life and the circumstances surrounding her death, it is an effective, thought-provoking piece, which was part of a larger multimedia exhibit presented at New York's Leslie Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art. Recommended. Aud: C, P. (P. Hall)