AUSTIN, Texas – Based on a tragic true story, “The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain” premiered at this year's Austin Film Festival.
- Film based on real-life story
- Kenneth Chamberlain killed in 2011
- Film premiered at Austin Film Festival
On November 19, 2011, in White Plains, New York, Kenneth Chamberlain Sr. accidentally triggered his medical alert pendant.
He was a Marine veteran, who had a heart problem, and suffered from bipolar disorder.
When police responded to his apartment for a welfare check, Chamberlain repeatedly said he was fine and the alert was a mistake.
But police broke down his door, deployed a stun gun on him, shot, and killed him in his home.
“I made a promise then that I would fight them all the way to the end, no matter what I had to do to get justice for my father, I would do it," said Kenneth Chamberlain Jr.
Despite the efforts of Kenneth Chamberlain Sr.'s family, the officers involved in his killing never faced criminal charges.
“We’re going on eight years now, I have not mourned my father's death," said Chamberlain Jr. "I have not because there's been no closure in order to mourn. There needs to be closure. I don't have closure because the city refuses to acknowledge criminal wrongdoing. So, it will always be hard, it will always be difficult. And I don't think that I'll ever have closure. Maybe one day, peace of mind. But I hope to one day mourn my father's death the right way.”
The film based on his killing premiered and won the Jury Award at this year’s Austin Film Festival.
“It starts when he wakes up and it ends when he dies, and you are following the story in real time. We wanted you to feel what Kenneth Chamberlain felt, and as it goes on, you do," said producer Enrico Natale.
The film is largely based on witness accounts, court documents, and a recording of the event taken on Chamberlain’s medical alert device.
In it, police are heard yelling curse words and racial slurs at Chamberlain before he was ultimately killed.
“I don’t think it's going to be an easy movie for people to watch," said David Midell, who wrote and directed the film. "But I think, I think it is a film that asks really important questions about the way the criminal justice system and law enforcement treat people who, you know, might live in lower income areas. (How they) treat people of color, treat people who might suffer from post-traumatic stress or other mental health challenges.”
Just weeks before the film’s premiere, Atatiana Jefferson, a black woman in Fort Worth, was shot and killed in her home by police performing a welfare check.
“It's to create the dialogue," said Chamberlain Jr. "It's to get people to understand that Kenneth Chamberlain Sr. could be any one of us. Atatiana Jefferson can be any one of us. And if we don't address it, again, another family will be going down this road, another family will be experiencing this tragedy.”