By Louis Chan, AsAmNews National Correspondent
Before the conviction of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin for the death of George Floyd, there was Peter Liang.
A grand jury in 2015 indicted the fired New York police officer of five counts including manslaughter in the death of Akai Gurley, a Black man.
Liang entered a dark stairwell while patrolling a public housing complex in New York when Gurley apparently startled him. Liang’s gun discharged and the bullet ricochet off the wall and struck Gurley, killing him.
The case sparked intense emotions with many seeing this as another case of police misconduct against the Black community and others seeing Liang as a scapegoat for other injustices.
Tensions around the case quickly surfaced with the case dividing the largely immigrant Chinese community with the progressive members of the Asian American community. The controversy also had the potential of escalating tensions between the Black and Asian communities.
Filmmaker Ursula Liang managed to get inside both camps and gave viewers a unique look in her film Down the Dark Stairwell.
The documentary had its national television debut on PBS’ Independent Lens April 12 and remains available for streaming for free until May 11 and on the PBS video app.
This is a film not everyone wanted Liang to make.
“I mean, I think they felt like, the emotions were so volatile, and it was such a complicated, and, you know, complex story that this is sort of not the thing they wanted, highlighted down the line,” Liang told AsAmNews.
She persevered because she saw this as an important moment in Asian American history which would remain pivotal years from now. She quickly saw that when she saw the huge crowds at rallies which turned out in support of Liang in the Chinese community across the country. It was at that point, she knew she would have the material to make a 90 minute film.
The film would not have been as powerful without gaining access to organizers on both sides.
“You know, one thing I realized early on is that my name might be a problem for some folks,” said the filmmaker to AsAmNews. “I have the same name as the police officer, but I thought that it might be a little bit of a trigger for folks.”
Liang made a point of personally attending rallies and introducing herself to gain trust with the Gurley camp. She also hired a diverse film crew and thought carefully about who should come with her to different events.
Liang had already made inroads into the Chinese American community with her debut film in 2012, 9 Man, a vicious game of street volleyball unique to the Asian American community. Still, building trust in her own community wasn’t easy.
She tried to be straight forward and honest with everyone. never making any promises about the direction the film would take.
That direction ended up playing the role of impartial observer. Liang did not insert herself into the story. She let each side have its say. That became an effective vehicle to offer a diverse range of perspectives in the film.
“I guess I came to as a concerned citizen, knowing that this is like, a really important issue and policing is essential and needs some like real real change. But I also think I came to with an open mind in terms of like, listening to folks feelings on the case,” she said.
She set out to “dial down the volume a little bit” and not focus on the “hot and testy” stuff happening on the street. Instead she chose to highlight a “bit more understanding of why people were taking certain positions.”
At one point a Chinese protester supporting Peter Liang walked across the street to protesters in support of Akai Gurley and began a dialogue.
“It offered a little bit of hope, because there was dialogue at that moment. And there was a little bit of a bridging, of opinions and, and listening. And so I think that that that scene was essential for the documentary and, you know, giving the audience a little bit of a model for what can be.”
Still she admits producing the film elicited strong emotions in her as well.
“I didn’t really realize how difficult it would be to deal with, you know, folks that were experiencing trauma on different levels,” she said.
“You understand that there’s a level of trauma when you’re dealing with a family that has lost somebody. There’s (also) all this secondary trauma and tertiary trauma that happens to the folks that surround them and are working with them that I didn’t really anticipate until I was in it.”
She said the organizers had a “real emotional stake” in what happened and that spilled over to her film crew as well.
She also spoke briefly to members of the Asian American community who came out in support of Akai Gurley’s family. They played a supportive role in the movement, taking a step back to actively elevate Black organizers.
The film has been translated into Chinese and will be coupled with educational material to encourage more dialogue. Down the Dark Stairwell plays next at a film festival in New Zealand.
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