Event

Killing Them Safely @ SLIFF

Killing Them Safely
Nick Berardini, U.S., 2015, 94 min.
Saturday, Nov. 7, 6:30 p.m., Webster U./Moore
The first film by Columbia, Mo.'s Nick Berardini, a graduate of Mizzou's journalism program, "Killing Them Safely" (then known as "Tom Swift and His Electric Rifle") generated impressive buzz when it debuted at the Tribeca Film Festival. In the early 2000s, brothers Rick and Tom Smith found tremendous success when their company began selling a device that has been called "the biggest revolution in law enforcement since the radio": the Taser. Though billed as a non-lethal alternative to the police handgun, the Taser has come under increasing scrutiny as the number of deaths related to its use has grown. In "Killing Them Safely," Berardini methodically investigates the medical evidence, the corporation's claims, and the disturbing facts in a series of deadly incidents (including the Moberly, Mo., case that inspired the film). Indiewire praises "Killing Them Safely" as "a deeply intriguing look into a contentious invention that has had both greatly positive and tragically negative effects on modern policing. Berardini's film follows a narrative trajectory impressive in any documentary, let alone one by a rookie filmmaker." With director Berardini and editor Robert Greene.