Justifiable Homicide

This slow-burning documentary deals with the case of Anthony Rosario, a likeable Puerto Rican boy from the Bronx, who was gunned down and killed beside his cousin Hilton Vega in 1995 by two LA cops, one of whom was the personal bodyguard of NY mayor Rudolph Giuliani. Fascinating and significant though the case is - clearly there's been a miscarriage of justice, as the Civilian Complaint Review Board testifies - more arresting in filmic terms is the depiction of the politicisation of the boy's mother, the sturdy Margarita, and her work with Parents Against Police Brutality. The incidental glimpse behind Giuliani's 'charismatic' front is instructive. (Backed by C4 TV and the Soros Documentary Fund.