No Visible Trauma – DelmarvaLife

The sixth Annual Ocean Metropolis Movie Pageant (OCFF) has a collection of movies from the Delmarva peninsula, notably Maryland. Nevertheless, there are a number of movies from world wide, together with this one from Canada, which really could be the one Canadian movie at OCFF. Final yr, the pageant hosted a few movies concerning the problem between the Black neighborhood and the police. Lights of Baltimore and The Friendliest Town have been two documentaries that explored racism inside numerous regulation enforcement companies. Lights in Baltimore did contact upon the Black Lives Matter (BLM) motion. This documentary from administrators Marc Serpa Francoeur and Robinder Uppal additionally addresses BLM.

A lot of the instances underneath the BLM motion contain Black males who died because of police encounters. Nevertheless, not all instances resulted in demise. Usually although, BLM instances are incidents that might have resulted in demise as a result of the brutality was so intense. As a nationwide motion and group to protest police brutality and particularly the killing of unarmed Black males, BLM started in the summertime of 2013. Later, that very same yr, in December, one other potential BLM case was recorded. Besides, the case wasn’t in the USA, it was in Calgary, Alberta, the third-largest metropolis in Canada.

The case concerned an African immigrant from Ghana named Godfred Addai-Nyamekye. On December 28, 2013, his automotive broke down on the darkish, snowy streets of Calgary. The police arrived, presumably for assist, however issues went very incorrect. Addai-Nyamkye then turned subjected to abuse and extreme bodily hurt when he did completely nothing incorrect. Not like numerous BLM instances, the incident of abuse right here wasn’t caught on cellphone digital camera. The incident was as an alternative recorded utilizing video from a helicopter that was hovering above, which could make it the primary BLM story the place that was the case. We see this helicopter video contradict what was placed on the police report about this incident, a denial from which the title of this movie stems.

On March 16, 2015, Calgary police shoot and kill Anthony Heffernan in a lodge room. Then, on Might 25, 2015, Calgary police abuse Daniel Haworth, a person who was unarmed and in reality handcuffed. The police abused Haworth so badly that he had traumatic mind damage. Haworth ultimately died from a drug overdose however little doubt his drug use was the results of his accidents by the police. Heffernan and Haworth wouldn’t be thought of BLM instances, primarily as a result of Heffernan and Haworth should not Black. Each have been white males. Nevertheless, what connects them is that the particular police officer who abused Addai-Nyamekye is similar officer who abused Haworth.

Addai-Nyamekye and the household of Haworth determined to file a lawsuit in opposition to the Calgary Police Service and particularly, Trevor Lindsay who’s the officer in query. This movie follows that lawsuit from 2013 to its conclusion in 2019. It follows Addai-Nyamekye and Haworth’s household as they hope for justice. Apart from the Heffernan case, all the opposite instances have video to help the case. Within the Haworth case, there was clear, surveillance video or CCTV that captured the entire thing. Different instances have CCTV that present a transparent image of what occurred to their victims.

What this movie places forth is the persistence of what’s been referred to as “poisonous masculinity.” Sure, there’s a racial part to this situation, which might’t be denied, however what’s underpinning numerous it is a poisonous tradition the place males in uniform exhibit robust and abusive conduct that isn’t and has by no means been justified. It additionally underlines how the issues within the prison justice system and notably in policing should not restricted to the USA. Our neighbors to the north are going through related points.

No Seen Trauma.
Friday, March 4 at 7 p.m. at FOX Gold Coast.
Operating Time: 1 hr. and 38 minutes.

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