BEI BEI
June 14, 2019 · 7:00 PM · Revue Cinema
With the abortion legislation currently taking place in Alabama, Georgia, and Ohio, BEI BEI is perhaps the most powerful and topical film on the festival circuit. After wowing audiences at Doc NYC last year, BEI BEI makes its Canadian Premiere as the opening film of the 2nd annual Toronto True Crime Film Festival.
Depressed, pregnant, and abandoned by her boyfriend, Chinese immigrant Bei Bei Shuai is eight months along when she attempts suicide by ingesting rat poison. Bei Bei survives the ordeal, but the fetus does not. Before even being discharged from the hospital, Bei Bei is taken to jail on charges of first degree murder and attempted feticide. She is the first woman in Indiana to be prosecuted for murder due to a pregnancy loss after a suicide attempt while pregnant.
39 out of the 50 states in the U.S.A. currently have fetal homicide laws, and in Bei Bei’s home state of Indiana, the state can seek the death sentence or life imprisonment without parole.
White collar crime super lawyer Linda Pence takes Bei Bei’s case on pro bono, determined to get her released from prison, have the charges dropped, and give Bei Bei hope when nobody else will.
BEI BEI is a timely and powerful film that shines an incredibly bright light on how lawmakers in the U.S.A. continue to attempt to control and police the bodies of women, as well as how criminally stacked the deck is against immigrants and people with mental health issues who find themselves tangled in the justice system.
