Opening Night

Post-screening panel with Marc Silver, Orlando Bagwell, and Maria McFarland Sánchez-Moreno, moderated by Khalil Gibran Muhammad

In November 2012 in Jacksonville, Florida, four unarmed African-American teenagers stopped at a gas station to buy gum and cigarettes. When a middle-aged white man parked beside them, an altercation began over the volume of rap music playing in the teens’ car. In a matter of moments, Michael Dunn fired 10 bullets into their car, killing 17-year-old Jordan Davis instantly. Directed by Marc Silver (Who Is Dayani Cristal?), 3½ Minutes: Ten Bullets is a seamlessly constructed, riveting documentary that explores the danger and subjectivity of Florida's Stand Your Ground self-defense laws. The film weaves Dunn's trial with Jordan Davis's parents' wrenching experiences in and out of the courtroom. The result is a powerful story about the devastating effects of racial bias and the search for justice within the U.S. legal system. As the deaths of Jordan Davis, Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, and Eric Garner galvanize the public and begin to shape national dialogue and policy, the intimate and moving 3½ Minutes: Ten Bullets brings the conversation back home—to the impact felt by families across the country for whom reform can’t come fast enough. A Participant Media release.