MATT SHEPARD IS A FRIEND OF MINE Opens Theatrically 2/6

Run Rabbit Run Media and VFRPR are honored to announce that Matt Shepard is a Friend of Mine will begin a theatrical rollout in twelve cities during February 2015, following a year of acclaim on the festival circuit and recent accolades at the Side by Side Film Festival in St. Petersburg, Russia. A winner of four Best Documentary awards, Matt Shepard is a Friend of Mine will first open in New York and two other cities on February 6, followed by Los Angeles on February 13, and continue expanding into select markets across the United States and Canada.

Matt Shepard is a Friend of Mine, Michele Josue's debut and the first film helmed by someone from Matt's life, is an intimate tribute to the young man she knew, the young man behind the story that rocked the nation and caused outcry around the world in 1998. Josue's journey took her across the United States, Switzerland and Morocco and the heartfelt result has screened at over two dozen festivals worldwide.

"Michele was one of Matt's most cherished friends, as are others whom she spent years interviewing, sharing how Matt changed them and how they changed themselves in the wake of his passing. Her film will forever stand as a unique view into our son's heart and his hopes. We are profoundly grateful that others will be able to share in its message."
-Judy Shepard

On October 7, 1998, University of Wyoming student Matthew Shepard was brutally beaten, tied to a fence and left to die because he was gay. Years later, Michele Josue, a close friend of Matt's, revisits the shocking case with never-before-seen photos, rare video footage, as Matt's all-too-brief life is remembered through the vivid testimonies of those whose lives he touched, from the friends and family who knew him best to the bartender who saw him on the night of the attack.

New revelations emerge in one of the most notorious hate crimes in US history, leading to a searing, poignant, and multi-layered biographical and sociological portrait. In the end, the notion of forgiveness--embodied in the moving and courageous final act of Matt's parents--takes on truly heroic proportions.