The tragic case of Georgia high schooler Kendrick Johnson is the subject of a new documentary acquired by Gravitas Ventures.
According to Variety, Finding Kendrick Johnson will premiere July 30 in 20 theaters nationwide as well as on-demand. The documentary is directed by Jason Pollock and narrated and executive produced by Jenifer Lewis.
The racial territory of Finding Kendrick Johnson isn’t new to Pollock, who directed Strange Fruit, retelling the events surrounding the 2014 murder of Missouri teen Michael Brown, and the subsequent civil rights movement that culminated. Johnson was killed in 2013, found in a rolled-up gym mat at his high school. Even though the autopsies have considerable evidence pointing to Johnson having sustained blunt force trauma, his death was ruled as an accident. Finding Kendrick Johnson promises to present viewers with new evidence in the case.
Pollock hopes that the film will help Johnson’s family get the justice they deserve.
“The case of Kendrick Johnson is one of the most imoprtant in U.S. history,” he said, according to Variety. “KJ deserves justice, and hopefully our film will help his family get one step closer to that outcome.”
Gravitas Ventures executive vice president and the studio’s general counsel Brendan M. Gallagher also said in a statement how “proud” the studio is to work with Pollock on Finding Kendrick Johnson.
“…[N]ow more than ever, [the film] reinforces the notion that justice and accountability should be vigorously pursued, no matter how long it takes,” he said.
Lewis also said in a statement about how meaningful the film is for her and what it means for the Johnson family.
“This is the most important film I’ve ever worked on,” said Lewis. “What this family has gone through is unspeakable but we must speak it so the public knows the truth. Jason has done a brilliant job on this vital story of injustice.”
Watch the trailer below: