The School of Law announced a free screening next week of a new documentary film, Shenandoah, about the beating death of an undocumented Mexican immigrant in a Pennsylvania town.

The presentation, open to the public, marks the documentary’s West Coast premiere. A panel discussion is planned afterward with the filmmakers and two civil rights experts, including Dean Kevin R. Johnson of the law school.

Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer David Turnley made the film, which he describes as “the story of a working-class town and the American Dream on trial.”

Shenandoah is a former coal mining town with a vibrant immigrant heritage — a heritage that was changed forever when four white, star football players were charged in the 2008 beating death of Luis Ramirez, part of a new wave of immigrants who came for work in farms and factories.

Besides Johnson and Turnley, the panel also includes Billy Peterson, executive producer; and Gladys Limón, staff attorney with the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund.

The screening is set to begin at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday (Oct. 16) in the Kalmanovitz Appellate Courtroom, King Hall, preceded by hors d'oeuvres and beverages at 5:30 p.m.