My documentary is about Vanessa Marquez, who was killed in her own home in 2018 by police officers after a 90-minute long "wellness check." The officers entered her apartment after a close friend contacted the local fire station to check on her. Police came instead of the paramedics, and found Marquez having a seizure, living in hoarding conditions. They quickly decided she needed to be "5150'd" (forcibly taken for mental evaluation) and somehow delayed the execution of this plan for nearly an hour and a half. When the officer finally instructed her to go with them, Marquez (still in bed) reached for something under her blankets that looked like a gun, and the police fled, assuming shooting positions at the bottom of her apartment stairwell. They start to call her out of her unit, and minutes later she emerged on the stairs with the gun and an armful of stuffed animals. Officers open-fired at her. The gun turned out to be plastic. The woman turned out to be a well known actress, whose body of work included an iconic 1980s movie, Stand and Deliver (Edward James Olmos, Lou Diamond Phillips) as well as 27 episodes of the hit TV show, ER.
In this film, Vanessa's effervescent and complex personality, as well as her talent and body of work are revealed in film clips, and through the remembrances of some of her co-stars, primarily from Stand and Deliver (her breakout role). The film explores her legacy as a role model for other actors of color, as well as her tragic death which is revealed at the end of the film in never before seen body-worn camera footage. Finally, all of the participants consider what steps must be taken to make lasting change in our response to mental health calls, and ask all to consider being role models and agents of change in their communities and their own lives.
My documentary is about Vanessa Marquez, who was killed in her own home in 2018 by police officers after a 90-minute long "wellness check." The officers entered her apartment after a close friend contacted the local fire station to check on her. Police came instead of the paramedics, and found Marquez having a seizure, living in hoarding conditions. They quickly decided she needed to be "5150'd" (forcibly taken for mental evaluation) and somehow delayed the execution of this plan for nearly an hour and a half. When the officer finally instructed her to go with them, Marquez (still in bed) reached for something under her blankets that looked like a gun, and the police fled, assuming shooting positions at the bottom of her apartment stairwell. They start to call her out of her unit, and minutes later she emerged on the stairs with the gun and an armful of stuffed animals. Officers open-fired at her. The gun turned out to be plastic. The woman turned out to be a well known actress, whose body of work included an iconic 1980s movie, Stand and Deliver (Edward James Olmos, Lou Diamond Phillips) as well as 27 episodes of the hit TV show, ER.
In this film, Vanessa's effervescent and complex personality, as well as her talent and body of work are revealed in film clips, and through the remembrances of some of her co-stars, primarily from Stand and Deliver (her breakout role). The film explores her legacy as a role model for other actors of color, as well as her tragic death which is revealed at the end of the film in never before seen body-worn camera footage. Finally, all of the participants consider what steps must be taken to make lasting change in our response to mental health calls, and ask all to consider being role models and agents of change in their communities and their own lives.