The Perfect Neighbor quickly moved to the top of Netflix’s charts this weekend after it debuted on the streaming service.
The documentary contains tons of police body-cam footage, real 9-1-1 audio calls, police interrogation footage and more.
If you haven’t watched, the doc focuses on Susan Lorincz‘s shooting of neighbor Ajike “AJ” Owens. A lot of the film focuses on Florida’s “stand your ground” laws. In summary, Florida’s Stand Your Ground law lets people protect themselves with force, even deadly force, if they think they are in serious danger. However, through their investigation, police found evidence that allowed them to charge Lorincz with manslaughter, and she was found guilty and sentenced to 25 years.
Now, fans are wondering how the filmmakers acquired all of the footage used in the documentary.
Keep reading to find out more…
The lawyers for Pamela Dias, AJ‘s mom, used the Freedom of Information Act to get all of the materials, The Guardian reported. The Freedom of Information Act is a law in the US that gives the public the right to access records from federal government agencies.
Geeta Gandbhir, the film’s director, got the footage and permission from Pamela.
“I showed Pam the film when it was completed and I said, ‘Is this what you want?’ She said, ‘Yes – the world needs to know what happened to my baby,’” Geeta recalled.
About using the footage, Geeta added, “…police body camera footage for people of color like myself, for black and brown folks, oftentimes is seen as a violent tool. The police come into our communities and, afterwards, they use body camera footage to criminalize and dehumanize us, to justify violence they may perpetrate against the community. I wanted to take this footage and flip it on its head.”
Find out how AJ‘s four kids are doing today, and where they are.