YEARS AGO — WHEN TARGET 7 UNCOVERED –THE UNSAFE PRACTICES OF C.Y.F.D. HAPPENING TONIGHT. THE PREMIERE OF A DOCUMENTARY CENTERED AROUND THE STORIES OF VICTIMS OF WHITE SUPREMACY HATE CRIMES TO TELL THEIR STORIES. THE DIRECTOR OF THE FILM, HARRY GANTZ, SAYS THE INTENTION OF HIS DOCUMENTARY IS TO “SWITCH THE NARRATIVE” OF HOW TRAGIC INSTANCES LIKE THESE ARE COVERED BY THE MEDIA. GANTZ FEATURES 4 DISTINCT STORIES OF HATE CRIMES THAT AFFECTED 4 DIFFERENT GROUPS OF PEOPLE. HE SAYS THESE FOUR STORIES CULMINATE INTO ONE PRIMARY THE DOCUMENTARY PREMIERED LAST NIGHT AT THE LAS CRUCES INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL… IF YOU MISSED IT, YOU’LL HAVE A CHANCE TO SEE A SCREENING TOMORROW
Documentary focuses on victims of violent hate crimes
Harry Gantz’s film, “American Hate, Survivors Speak,” eschews the tendency to analyze criminal motives.
The producer and director of a new documentary wants to show that there is another way to tell the stories of traumatic hate crimes. Harry Gantz’s film, “American Hate, Survivors Speak,” focuses on the victims of four hate crimes representing four of many targeted groups, instead of focusing on the perpetrators, which the mainstream media is more apt to do.Gantz said the stories are intended to come together into one primary focus. “I think the message is more that, no matter what group you come from that is affected, if we work together, all the groups that were fighting would be a much more powerful force for good and a force against hate,” Gantz said. There is a tendency to try to understand the motivation of these criminal acts, Gantz said, whereas he is much more interested in how these crimes impact their victims.”There are dozens of films that analyze hate killers and serial killers,” Gantz said. “We’re trying to change the narrative and see it from the not-really-caring-about-why-the-perpetrator-did-it viewpoint, and more about the short-term and long-term effects, psychologically and physically, of people who are traumatized by it.””American Hate, Survivors Speak” will be screened at 5 and 7:30 p.m. Sunday at the Jean Cocteau Cinema, 418 Montezuma Ave. in Santa Fe. More information on the film is available online at americanhatethefilm.com.
The producer and director of a new documentary wants to show that there is another way to tell the stories of traumatic hate crimes.
Harry Gantz’s film, “American Hate, Survivors Speak,” focuses on the victims of four hate crimes representing four of many targeted groups, instead of focusing on the perpetrators, which the mainstream media is more apt to do.
Gantz said the stories are intended to come together into one primary focus.
“I think the message is more that, no matter what group you come from that is affected, if we work together, all the groups that were fighting would be a much more powerful force for good and a force against hate,” Gantz said.
There is a tendency to try to understand the motivation of these criminal acts, Gantz said, whereas he is much more interested in how these crimes impact their victims.
“There are dozens of films that analyze hate killers and serial killers,” Gantz said. “We’re trying to change the narrative and see it from the not-really-caring-about-why-the-perpetrator-did-it viewpoint, and more about the short-term and long-term effects, psychologically and physically, of people who are traumatized by it.”
“American Hate, Survivors Speak” will be screened at 5 and 7:30 p.m. Sunday at the Jean Cocteau Cinema, 418 Montezuma Ave. in Santa Fe. More information on the film is available online at americanhatethefilm.com.
