Out in the Night

76 min and 54 min, dir. blair dorosh-walther, 2014
Co-Production of ITVS and Corporation for Public Broadcasting
Distributed by New Day Films and available on iTunes and Amazon
www.outinthenight.com

Synopsis

Out in the Night is the story of four young African-American lesbian friends who defended themselves against an attack in the West Village of NYC and were subsequently charged and slandered by the media as a "Lesbian Gang". In this intimate examination, the New Jersey 4 - Renata Hill, Terrain Dandridge, Patreese Johnson and Venice Brown - reveal why they defended themselves that night on the street and again in the courtroom when they pled not-guilty. dorosh-walther takes a critical look at the roll of the news media that painted the women as a gang of killer lesbians and the impact this framing had in their trial and appeals.

Producer's Role

Giovanna worked as Producer of OUT IN THE NIGHT from 2011 to 2015. During that time, they received co-production funding from ITVS and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and support from the Jerome Foundation, Sundance Foundation for Distribution and Outreach, among others. Their work included moving the film toward completion, preparing for broadcast, screening on the festival circuit, beginning outreach and engagement, and building the social media channels. The documentary opened the 2015 season of POV on PBS and the worldwide United Nations Program “Free and Equal.” Out in the Night was also produced by dorosh-walther, Yoruba Richen and Mridu Chandra and Executive Produced by Abigail Disney and Sally Jo Fifer.

Awards
Film Independent Fast Track Fellows
Best Documentary (Jury) Seattle LGBT Film Festival
Best Documentary (Audience) Seattle LGBT Film Festival
Best Documentary (Audience) New Orleans International Film Festival
Best Documentary (Jury) Kansas City LGBTQ Film Festival
Best Documentary (Audience) Fresno Pride
Audience Choice Award London Lesbian Film Festival
Best Documentary (Audience) Baltimore International Black Film Festival
Best Documentary (Audience) image+nation Film Festival - Montreal, Canada
Special Mention (Jury) image+nation Film Festival - Montreal, Canada
Best Documentary (Jury) ARC Queer People of Color Film Festival - Oakland, CA
Best Documentary Feature (Audience) Reel Q Film Festival - Pittsburgh, PA
Best Documentary (Audience) ImageOut - Rochester, NY
Special Jury Award ImageOut - Rochester, NY

Press
In 2015, Bill Moyers.com named Out in the Night a top social issue documentary.
In 2014, Out in the Night was in top film lists on Roger Ebert.com, The Advocate, Alternet, PopMatters and Room Magazine
Additional press coverage here: http://www.outinthenight.com/press/