-- Documentary Narrated by Academy Award®-Nominee Alfre Woodard Debuts Wednesday, September 21 on PBS --
-- Not In Our Town Week of Action Kicks Off September 18 --
New York, NY (July 21, 2011) – Not In Our Town: Light in the Darkness – a new film which documents the story of a town standing together to take action after a hate crime killing devastates their community – will debut Wednesday, September 21 at 10:00 p.m. ET on PBS (check local listings), with KQED as the presenting station. Narrated by Academy Award®-Nominee Alfre Woodard, the documentary addresses the growing problem of anti-immigrant violence in communities nationwide.
In 2008, a series of attacks by a group of seven local teenagers against Latino residents of the Long Island,New Yorktown ofPatchogueended with the killing of 37-year-old Marcelo Lucero. An Ecuadorian immigrant, Lucero had been a Patchogue resident for 13 years. Filmed over a two-year period, the documentary follows Mayor Paul Pontieri, the victim’s brother Joselo Lucero, diverse community leaders, residents and students as they openly address the underlying causes of the violence, work to heal divisions and initiate ongoing action to ensure everyone in their village will be safe and respected.
“As the country becomes increasingly divided about immigration, we hope this film sparks constructive discussions that separate policy differences from human issues and community safety, so that what happened in Patchogue will never happen again,” said Patrice O’Neill, Executive Producer and Director, Light in the Darkness and Founder of The Working Group.
The film serves as the centerpiece of Not In Our Town’s National Week of Action. From September 18-24, public media outlets and communities across the country will host screenings, events and discussions on hate crime prevention, working to develop new ways to make their towns safer. Public media stations in 20 markets, including presenting station KQED, along with partner organizations including the Department of Justice Community Oriented Policing Services Office, National Council of Churches, National League of Cities, Interfaith Immigration Coalition, National Hispanic Media Coalition, United Methodist Women, and Welcoming America will use the film to initiate dialogue about issues of intolerance in their communities.
Light in the Darkness is the third PBS special from Not In Our Town, a project from The Working Group, whose mission is to highlight stories of communities taking positive action to fight intolerance. Not In Our Town was launched in 1995 with the national PBS special Not In Our Town, which followed the citizens of Billings, Montana as they joined forces to resist bigotry in their town. Not In Our Town II, a follow-up broadcast, aired in 1996 and showed how communities adapted the experience fromBillings to counteract local hate violence. Over the past 15 years, Not In Our Town has grown from a PBS documentary into a national effort to connect people working together to take action against hate and create safe, inclusive communities.