This Valentine’s Day marks the two-year anniversary of the Parkland school shooting.
Back in 2018, 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz opened gunfire on faculty and students at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school in Parkland, FL. He killed 17 people in the shooting and injured 17 more.
Now, just two years later, the Parkland school shooting has inspired four feature-length documentaries. The films are surfacing during a nationwide gun-violence epidemic, which could be deemed fruitful for the creative ventures.
”US Kids” debuted at the Sundance Film Festival and follows students that turned to activism after the harrowing events of that day.
”Parkland Rising,” which is executive produced by Katie Couric and Will. I. Am, won an audience award at the Woodstock Film Festival. It highlights the after-effects of those survived by the shooting as they become leaders and activists for national gun reform.
”Voices of Parkland,” directed by Jeff Vespa, interviews 35 students and parents. The film is set to debut in Los Angeles on February 12. The screening will benefit Brady United Against Gun Violence.
”After Parkland” will screen in over 100 theaters on February 12. It will help host a nationwide 2-day conversation, in memoriam of the two-year shooting annual.
In regards to all the competition, Vespa told The Hollywood Reporter, “As a filmmaker, if you find out that there are competing films you think it’s terrible, and you worry about your film not getting sold. None of that matters for these films because none of us are doing this for the money. We just want these stories to be told and seen by the world. We’re all in this for the same reason.”
