Modesto’s State Theatre to screen film about murder victim Matthew Shepard

The brutal 1998 murder of University of Wyoming freshman Matthew Shepard has been told in countless news reports, and the aftermath of the killing has been depicted on stage and in an HBO film. It’s being told again in a documentary, this time by a close friend of Shepard’s.

“Matt Shepard Is a Friend of Mine,” about the young man who was targeted by his assailants because he was gay, will screen one night only, Thursday, at the State Theatre in Modesto, followed by a Skype conversation and Q&A with director and Shepard’s friend Michelle Josue, who met him in 1993 at a Swiss boarding school.

“It’s a film that needs to be seen, if only for one night,” State Theatre Executive Director Sue Richardson said in an email interview. “I remember the Matt Shepard story very distinctly and recall being shocked by the details of the case and the sheer brutality and senselessness of his murder. When this film was released, I was confident it would only be shown in our region at the State.”

“Matt Shepard is a Friend of Mine” follows Josue as she travels to pivotal locations in Shepard’s life, according to the film’s website, http://mattshepardisafriendofmine.com, interviewing other friends and family members and gaining insight into the life and loss of Shepard. The 21-year-old was lured by two men from a bar in Laramie, Wyo., who kidnapped him and drove to a field, where Shepard was tortured, tied to a fence and left. Never regaining consciousness, he died from his injuries a few days later.

Shepard’s death cast a glaring light on hate crimes, particularly against the LGBT community, and ultimately led to the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which President Barack Obama signed into law in 2009. Byrd was killed in Texas in 1998 during a racially motivated attack. The play “The Laramie Project” was based on the aftermath of Shepard’s murder in the Wyoming city and was later made into a movie for HBO.

Richardson acknowledged the documentary could be difficult viewing. “I think it’s a hard film to watch and that the whole incident is hard to even conceptualize. It may not be easy to watch, but the message of tolerance is one we need to embrace.”

Having Josue available to the audience after the screening will be an important part of the evening, she said.

“She is not only the film’s director, she is a close friend of Matt’s,” Richardson said. “I love having directors and actors connected to a film on-site whenever possible, but that can also be a self-conscious process. I have found that by Skyping, the audience feels more free to ask more serious questions. With Skyping, it becomes less about the compliments than it does about reaching some depth and probing for answers.”

“Matt Shepard Is a Friend of Mine” won several regional awards as it made its way across the film festival circuit since 2014. The film, now in wider nationwide release, fits in with the State Theatre’s mission, Richardson said.

“Certainly we show films that entertain, but we also try to enlighten and present a broad worldview,” she said. “We want to present different points of view. It’s a big world, and we want to shine light in all corners of it with our film programming. That’s a very powerful thing to be able to do, but our board is committed, regardless of the fact that many of these films will never be a commercial success. They still deserve to be shown and to be seen.”

This story was originally published April 10, 2015 at 11:50 AM with the headline "Modesto’s State Theatre to screen film about murder victim Matthew Shepard."