After Parkland

By: Ashlee Dell’Arciprete

The mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida last year rocked the country and proved just how strong those not even of voting age can be in the wake of a tragedy. February 14, 2018 was just another Valentine’s day at first –a day of celebrating love and the people around you. But on the afternoon of this day for the students at MSD High School their lives completely changed forever. Each time another mass shooting occurs in America those lost are mourned and debates ensue about how to prevent more gun violence  and then nothing happens –a fact that the Parkland survivors wanted to end. How do you even enact some level of normalcy after such a tragedy? After Parkland, a documentary created by Emily Taguchi and Jake Lefferman, held its world premiere at the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival. The film follows the outspoken survivors of the tragedy who used their voices to inspire change.

The film follows a handful of the survivors, including the David Hogg and his sister Emily, Victoria Gonzales, Dillon McCooty and Samuel Zeif as well as their parents, along with Manuel Oliver who lost his son Joaquin and Andrew Pollack who lost his daughter Meadow. The Parkland shooting left 17 murdered and another 17 injured. It was one of the worst mass school shootings in history. It will likely always be one of the days you remember exactly where you were when you found out about it, similarly to the shooting in Columbine or Virginia Tech for older generations. What is even more tragic for the Parkland students is that the majority of them are still too young to vote in order to invoke any change, but that did not stop them from speaking up to move others who can.

“If someone murdered my kid, I’m just saying, I can take anything,” Andrew Pollack says to the interviewer in the film’s opening scene. After Andrew plays a song that he used to play for Meadow, the documentary fades into scenes from that tragic day with footage from David Hogg and others to give just a very small portion of what it was truly like that day. An overhanging loss throughout is with the senseless death of Joaquin, who was also known as “Guac” by his close friends. Victoria Gonzalez, who was in a relationship with Joaquin, is initially seen wearing flowers in her hair from the first bouquet of flower that he ever bought her. Sam Zeif was also one of his close friends and a survivor of the shooting. He decided to speak at the White House about that day to take a stand in honor of his late friend. The documentary then takes a look at each of the students lives and how they are are dealing with the tragedy differently.

Further, the documentary follows the students as they experience a several number of first firsts since the tragic day. There are several emotional scenes throughout the film, including one in particular that follows the MSD students as they stage a walkout and go to a nearby trail where those lost are memorialized. A candle is later placed on an empty chair for each of the 14 children and three teachers and coaches. One by one they are lit by a loved one or parent. The big moment the film also leads up to the March For Our Lives rally, a day that truly showed the strength of these survivors. Ultimately, After Parkland concludes with some the survivors returning to begin a new school year while others are heading off to college – a touching moment as they say goodbye to Manuel Oliver before leaving.

The survivors are at the heart of the film and are incredibly strong with the supportive parents. Not only have the students tried to use their voices to prevent this tragedy from happening again, but so have their parents. Change the Ref is an organization created by Joaquin Oliver’s father and the Never Again Campaign was founded by 20 MSD students, including David Hogg. The culmination of the film says it all in highlighting the mass shootings that have happened since the heartbreaking day at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

Emily Taguchi and Jake Lefferman, the ABC “Nightline” journalists, directors and producers of the documentary, created a highly moving look at how life continues in the aftermath of a tragedy. Taguchi and Lefferman do not push the students too far and remain sensitive to their grief, allowing the students and parents to share their voices in whichever way felt comfortable to them. The filmmakers take an intimate look at each of their lives and captures how they have dealt with their grief differently as they are all in their own journeys and stages of grief. It is not as easy for some of them to even simply show up at school and it also iterates how there is nothing wrong with that.

After Parkland looks back on the horrific day and follows the students as they continue to heal and inspire change for those before and after them. Despite this tragedy, the most moving parts of all were the scenes that showed the students living their life to the fullest in honor of their friends lost who are unable to do the same, like graduation, going to prom,or even simply playing basketball. Lefferman and Taguchi intended to spotlight the pain that the families involved were still enduring and created an incredibly personal film that can appeal to all, regardless of where of your political beliefs. The film is less about politics and more about remembering those who were lost and letting the survivors share their voices after the senseless tragedy.

After Parkland held its World Premiere at the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival and is expected to be released later this year.