A Barrio Bushido and Maya Media Production

Lowrider Lawyers: Putting a City on Trial

Sunday, January 3, 2016, 3:00 pm - A live community discussion panel will follow the film
Thursday, January 14, 2016, 7:00 pm

In Lowrider Lawyers: Putting a City on Trial, the barrio community rises with creativity and amor for Alex Nieto, scholarship student security guard and beloved son, who was unlawfully killed by 48 bullets fired from the San Francisco Police Department on March 21, 2014 on top of Bernal Heights Mountain.

When the Homies discover that Alex, who had never even been arrested in his entire life, has been unjustly executed, they request that the heavy hitters handle the case. Caravanning with other fine rides, the Lowrider Lawyers lowride in a wine-colored 1966 Chevy Impala Convertible to the colonial courthouse, where indigenous danzantes drum out and stomp over evil spirits, and summon the truth into the justice system. A jury of peers, cholo homeboys and homegirls, listen intently to the evidence presented. 

Using legal articulation, the Lowrider Lawyers begin with a clear, concise opening statement. The courthouse is then magically transformed into the barrio, where the last Lowrider Lawyer interrogates the police officer who killed Alex Nieto. Balmy Alley’s gentrification mural becomes the vibrant backdrop, and the Homies painted on the walls serve as the jury. Substantive answers from witnesses and the police are based on the actual San Francisco District Attorney’s Report, deposition testimony, and other true accounts.  Real footage of “Amor for Alex” marches and lowrider shows concludes this powerful, unprecedented type of film.

Written and directed by Benjamin Bac Sierra and filmed and edited by Peter Menchini. Cast includes San Francisco Board of Supervisors’ District Nine Candidate Edwin Lindo, national entertainer and singer Favi Estrella, and Stanford Law School graduate and international development consultant Adriana Camarena. Soundtrack by “Dr. Loco” (Jose Cuellar) and Favi Estrella.