Doc Star of the Month: Victoria Gonzalez, 'After Parkland'

In a relatively sane world — or at least nation — Victoria Gonzalez would never have been one of the guiding lights of Emily Taguchi and Jake Lefferman's documentary After Parkland. A student at the time Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida became shorthand for the latest mass murder by a young man with an assault rifle, Gonzalez lost both her innocence and her boyfriend, Joaquin Oliver, on that Valentine's Day in 2018. And even as there was no bringing back either, Gonzalez herself was forced to carry on — searching, struggling, and finding not answers, but her own voice. 

Fortunately, veteran journalists Taguchi and Lefferman were able to capture this intimate journey — and those of the devastated parents and siblings and friends left behind — from the immediate aftermath of the tragedy right through to the school’s bittersweet graduation ceremony. And fortunately for Documentary, this naturally media-shy young woman agreed to be our February "Doc Star of the Month."

After Parkland opens with "Day of Conversation" screenings in select cities nationwide through Kino Lorber on February 12, and will be available for streaming on Hulu beginning February 19.

To read my interview visit Documentary magazine.