Tomorrow, a documentary about Angie's life and death, Photos of Angie, will premiere at the XicanIndie Film Fest in Denver.
The documentary, by local filmmaker Alan Dominguez of Loco Lane Films, features interviews with Angie's family and friends, gay-rights activists who were involved in the case, Weld County District Attorney Ken Buck, as well as myself. I live-blogged the trial for Westword and subsequently wrote a cover story about the case: "Who was Angie Zapata?" A panel discussion featuring the filmmaker and others will follow the film, which starts at 7 p.m. Tickets are $7.
See a description and trailer of the film below.
This haunting yet hopeful documentary tells the story of Angie Zapata, a transgender teen who was murdered in rural Greeley, Colorado in 2008. The film moves between the trial of her killer, Angie's brief life and self-discovery told through family and friends, and the fruition of national hate crime legislation with Angie's case very much in the foreground as it was the first time that a transgender murderer was successfully prosecuted under hate crime laws. Told in five movements, one per day of the trial of Angie's killer, the film features a classical score by Mackenzie Gault of the national touring band The Flobots and additional music by L.A.-based band Ozomatli. The film reveals Angie's simple life in the context of a complicated struggle juxtaposed with her violent death at the hands of a man whose true nature is finally revealed.
For a slideshow of photos of Angie, see "From Justin to Angie: The transformation of Angie Zapata."
