On September 17, the UCI Intellectual Property, Arts, & Technology Clinic, together with the UCI Law Defending Democracy Clinic, hosted a screening of Ninety Minutes Later, a documentary film by Cyndy Fujikawa. The award-winning film chronicles the 2018 fatal police shooting of beloved actress Vanessa Marquez, who was killed in her home after a wellness check by South Pasadena police officers. Some of her most notable roles include playing Ana Delgado in Stand and Deliver and Nurse Wendy Goldman on ER. Vanessa Marquez struggled with bipolar disorder for a significant portion of her life, and the film highlights the difficulties with public responses to an ongoing mental health crisis.
Ninety Minutes Later paints a portrait of Vanessa Marquez as a vivacious, talented, and trailblazing Latina actor, as well as someone with an outspoken and frequently complicated nature. Her friends are depicted both in their earliest stages of grief and disbelief, as well as in working to preserve her legacy as a beloved Latina actress and advocating for steps that might have been taken to stop the tragedy.
The steady pursuit of justice for Vanessa continues. The IPAT Clinic’s Press Freedom Project successfully advocated for Ms. Fujikawa to secure access, pursuant to the California Public Records Act, to the raw police body-worn camera footage depicting the incident. That footage tells a different story than what was released publicly. Amid growing calls for police accountability, Ninety Minutes Later puts a microscope on this one incident, weaving together news footage, clips of Marquez’s film and television career, interviews with aspiring “Vanessas” and the police body-worn camera footage from several angles.
After the screening, Ms. Fujikawa commented on the challenges she faced in acquiring the necessary videos and documentation from the local police department. She credited Professors Susan Seager, Jack Lerner, Paul Hoffman, and the UCI Law Clinics for their tireless efforts to assist with the documentary. The IPAT Clinicʻs Filmmaker Services team and the Press Freedom Project worked with Ms. Fujikawa for years on this project, assisting both in securing the body camera footage, and in making fair use of materials in the film. The film featured the late Vicki Sarmiento, who referred filmmaker Fujikawa to the UCI law clinics and who handled the wrongful death litigation against the City of South Pasadena. Attending on Ms. Sarmientoʻs behalf was her cousin, Sandra “Pocha” Peña, who spoke about her Ms. Sarmientoʻs role in the litigation. Ms. Peña highlighted that the documentary was an exceptional way to continue the quest for justice in the absence of a legal verdict.
Daniel Villareal and Will Gotay, who both performed in Stand and Deliver and remained friends with Ms. Marquez in the decades after, provided invaluable insights during the post-screening panel discussion into the story of Vanessa Marquez and her enduring legacy. They emphasized the critical importance of this film for the next generation of Latina actresses and shared memories of Ms. Marquez.
Ninety Minutes Later is an important contribution to a growing body of work calling for safer policing and other policies that can better protect our communities. The film demonstrates the power of art and advocacy—to honor Vanessa Marquez’s legacy, expose the truth, and catalyze change. The UCI Law Clinics remain committed to advancing press freedom, fair use, community safety, and civil rights through rigorous legal work and public engagement.
