- Welcome to Independent Lens.
I'm Pete Schwaba, host of PBS Wisconsin's Director's Cut.
Victoria is a small town in south Texas
with a thriving Muslim community,
about 30 miles from the Gulf of Mexico.
In 2017, Victoria gained national attention
when a man burned down a mosque.
This three-part docuseries titled A Town Called Victoria
tells the story of how Victoria struggled to confront its past
while trying to move to the future
after such a horrible crime.
On January 27, 2017, an executive order was issued
establishing a travel ban
to several largely Muslim-populated countries.
Later that night,
the mosque in Victoria was burned to the ground.
Muslim leaders watched in horror
as their spiritual home was destroyed.
The next day, the international press descended on Victoria,
expecting to find incendiary circumstances.
Instead, they encountered a big rally for peace,
involving over 500 residents.
Within a week, a Go Fund Me campaign
had raised more $1 million to rebuild the mosque,
painting a different picture than the world was expecting.
But once the media cleared out,
the town found itself grappling with its identity
and questioning their values, socioeconomic disparity,
and racial issues.
Adding more conflict to the story
was how confused the town's residents were
over the man behind the crime.
On the surface, Mark Vincent Perez,
the man who set the fire to the mosque,
was a loving husband and father of two children.
The fact that he is Hispanic
and a member of another minority group
gave the documentary even more nuance.
Director Li Lu
is a self-proclaimed lover of storytelling
who strives to create bold and fearless projects
that span genre and form.
The director knows all about cultural differences too.
The daughter of parents who are both physicists,
Lu was born in China and moved to Sugar Land, Texas
when she was five.
Like many documentarians, she has a nose for a good story,
and thought there might be something
underneath the feel-good initial outpouring
after the mosque fire.
She was right.
Lu was curious to find out why Perez,
a man with so much to lose, would commit such a crime.
Her investigation reveals
a compelling and fascinating story.
It follows the people of Victoria
as they struggle to find answers,
face some hard truths,
and try to find a new and better way forward.
A Town Called Victoria starts now on PBS Wisconsin,
your home for independent film.