Seven years before ‘Black Lives Matter’ and George Floyd, teenager Kendrick Johnson was found in the gymnasium of Lowndes High School, Georgia on January 11th, 2013 – having died from what investigators initially felt was an accidental death, in which Johnson had crawled into a gym mat to retrieve a training shoe, only to suffer from asphyxiation and dying of accidental causes. However, as evidence and further investigation mounted, the case seemed to yield something a lot darker and more sinister amidst a volatile locality that has got a significant history of civil unrest and racism.
The backstory and context of the tragedy is now revealed after a four-year investigation in writer/director Jason Pollock’s film FINDING KENDRICK JOHNSON, which chronicles the ongoing determination for the family and relatives of Johnson to seek justice for his death and their own desire to hold the police and FBI accountable for their actions and seemingly withholding evidence that could also bring to light significant developments and closure for the loss of their member.
However, this film not only covers the individual case, but also talks about the history of the region and the town where the tragedy happened, as well as the effect and influence that J. Edgar Hoover, founder of the FBI, had on the law and order as well as the Presidency of the United States over five decades. Amidst the narrative, there are some potent and powerful images of lynching and slavery (which are very affecting and upsetting on all fronts) and reflections on investigators who were brought in to assess and reassess the evidence that may or may not have been tampered with.
Narrator Jenifer Lewis also taps into the demographics of the region, where the black community is the majority, but who still feel that their influence and voice will remain in the minority until people think differently about their cause and desire to be treated equally across all fronts.
Powerful and thought-provoking throughout, FINDING KENDRICK JOHNSON will certainly give people who have been affected by the recent historical events across the globe a lot to reflect and re-examine in terms of their own place in the world and what their own value system should be. For the Johnson family, who continue to seek an answer and closure to their own sadness and tragedy, it will be a long journey to find out the truth behind Johnson’s premature death.
The significance is that it should provide a forum and overview for people to reconsider and revalue their own belief system amidst history that is constant and never changing.
FINDING KENDRICK JOHNSON is the Number 3 Documentary on iTunes as of 3rd August 2021
Now Available on Digital + Video on Demand
Screening Nationwide in Theaters this Summer
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