PBS Documentary on Lucero Murder Premieres in Patchogue

The PBS documentary detailing the fallout after the 2008 murder of Marcelo Lucero premiered at the on Wednesday night.

The 60-minute film is slated to on Sept. 21, and will have more than 180 screenings across the nation said Patrice O’Neill, the film’s executive producer.

O’Neill and her film crew visited the Patchogue area and have been filming events such as the and at a 2010.

O’Neill said before the movie that the film focuses on those that were jolted into action after killing of Lucero by seven , who have since been sentenced for five to inprisonment.

“Everyone would have made a different movie, and we could not possibly reflect everyone’s experience over the past two and a half years with this tragedy, grappling with these issues,” O’Neill said before the film.

The film depicts Patchogue Village Mayor Paul Pontieri, Marcelo’s brother Joselo Lucero, community leaders at and the Suffolk County Police Department and students from .

“There are so many people that influenced this film that we could not fit into the hour we had for PBS, but please know how much you influenced the story,” O’Neill said.

Among those who did not make the film, O’Neill thanked Gilda Ramos from the Patchogue-Medford Library who helped translate and connect the crew with community members.

Renee Minushkin attended the film screening with her husband and two children.

“I found it to be truthful to what happened,” said Minushkin, a local resident who is an ESL teacher in a nearby district.

After the film was screened, a community discussion was held that became somewhat heated early on.

“What surprised me about the film was the fact that there wasn’t a lot of other participation,” one resident said, who further thought that it was a ‘white man’ story. “You need to bring both parties together for the dialog.”

Resident Carlos Morales expressed frustration about an aspect of the story.

“I’m frustrated that it took the mayor of Patchogue this to happen here for him to pay attention to it,” Morales said.

Morales said after the forum that he feels that more Latinos should have been interviewed for the film. He hopes that a dialog will continue on these issues.

Joselo Lucero did not attend the premiere, but viewed the film at an earlier date. When told about the discussion, he said it was interesting that some members of the community spoke their feelings that it did not represent all voices. He also said that another November memorial is being planned for the upcoming third anniversary of his brother's death.

Juan Alvarado, a radio host, said after the show that he felt that the film did prompt discussion and that this was not a white or black movie. Alvarado said that even though it drew some criticism, it brought the community together nonetheless.

"That's one step, they are here today, so that's one step," Alvarado said.Although discussion was heated, O’Neill felt that the film did its job by prompting this discussion.

“I think you have to get it out in the open and talk about it, and that’s the point," she said. "That’s why we had a community discussion."

Updated: 9/16/11 2:07 p.m.