Illuminating the humanity of lesbian hate crime murder victim
Talana Kreeger and the resilience of her community
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Park View was honored to receive the Audience Choice award from the True Crime Film Fest, at the historic Strand Theater in Marietta, Georgia, where director Cameron Munson has created an event that honors victims and survivors of crime!
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Lynette Miller and Kris Dempsey represented well at the 2021 Out at the Movies International Film Festival in Winston-Salem for the North Carolina premiere of Park View, as we carry Talana's story to other communities that can learn from the strength and resilience of the one in Wilmington!
On the 30th anniversary of Talana Kreeger's murder, February 22, 2020, the local preview of Park View in Wilmington, NC had a packed audience in the Church of the Good Shepherd... the only congregation in 1990 that would host the funeral of a lesbian.
"Stories such as the ones told in Park View are important to tell, to share, and to learn from. Let us amplify them, and thereby amplify each other and the community at large."
LesFlicks
Response
One result of trauma is a breakdown in communication between people who share a common experience. Sadly, the lives of queer people have not been witnessed or validated by our culture, through its media, it's justice system, or its religious institutions.
The Park View Project challenges the viewer to question the language of hate in our culture, and to consider the human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered people.
The friends of Talana Kreeger were frustrated in their attempts to locate a church that was willing to host her funeral, in light of the publicity surrounding her murder. A scheduled memorial service had been cancelled at the last minute, when a local church became aware that the deceased was lesbian, requiring a hurried relocation, to the Church of the Good Shepherd, where the Reverend Burton Whiteside welcomed the grieving friends of Talana.
Two years later, in 1992, several of these mourners were among the founding members of St. Jude's Metropolitan Community Church, part of a Christian denomination that affirms the humanity and spirituality of LGBTQ people. In the words of one of these early leaders, "We wanted to have a place where we could marry you and bury you."
On Friday, February 22, 2008, the Park View Project partnered with St. Jude's MCC to host a Memorial Service, to honor Talana Kreeger and other victims of hate crimes in their community, and to inspire social justice and healing.
The Park View Project will extend the power of this story, through learning modules that will invite individuals and groups, in schools, churches, and community organizations, to consider the impact of hate in our culture.
We have had dialogue with elected officials and Equality NC, about unsuccessful bills in the North Carolina Legislature that would have revised the hate crimes laws to include sexual orientation and gender identity, and it is the ongoing mission of this production to raise public awareness of the need for these protections to vulnerable communities. The Park View Project will initiate outreach to key constituencies, with the support of an Audience Engagement Consultation by Working Films.
