Down a Dark Stairwell

Film phase:Completed

SYNOPSIS

When a Chinese-American police officer kills an innocent, unarmed Black man in a darkened stairwell of a New York City housing project, it sets off a firestorm of emotion and a passionate quest for accountability. When he becomes the first NYPD officer convicted of an on-duty shooting in over a decade, the fight for justice becomes complicated—igniting one of the largest Asian-American protests in history and disrupting a legacy of solidarity.

Down a Dark Stairwell is a participant of Project: Hatched 2021 and participated in the 2017 Diversity Fellows Initiative past program.

ABOUT THE DIRECTOR

Ursula Liang is a print journalist-turned-filmmaker who has worked for The New York Times Op-Docs, T: The New York Times Style Magazine, ESPN The Magazine, WBAI, Hyphen magazine, the New Yorker Festival, and the 2050 Group. She produced for the films Tough Love and Wo Ai Ni, Mommy, and the television shows UFC Primetime and Spartan Ultimate Team Challenge. Liang grew up in Newton, MA and lives in the Bronx, NY. Her award-winning debut feature, 9-Man, was broadcast on public television.