On Wednesday evening, Oct. 20, Lipscomb students walked away with much more than a chapel credit. After watching “Me Facing Life: Cyntoia’s Story” in Shamblin Theater, Cyntoia’s powerful life story came to light. The documentary on her life, made over a six-year period, tells of Cyntoia’s past. At 16 years old, Cyntoia Brown, a  young woman with a troubled past, was forced to face the reality that the rest of her life would almost certainly be spent behind bars.

Now, she is an inmate at the Tennessee Prison for Women and a participant in Lipscomb’s LIFE program. The program, which began in 2007, is dedicated to educating inmates to change their lives for the better.

Brown was 16 when she killed Johnny Allen, a 43-year-old Nashvillian who picked her up while she was streetwalking at a Sonic Restaurant. Cyntoia had run away from home and was forced to work as a prostitute for a violent drug dealer. As a result, she encountered Allen on the night of Aug. 6, 2004.

After riding with Allen back to his home, Brown began to fear for her safety. Allen had begun talking about guns and his time spent as an army sharp shooter, frightening comments that ultimately led Cyntoia to shoot Allen in the head. Her murder conviction at age 18 led her to the prison cell she now calls home.

Cyntoia still claims that she shot Allen in fearful self-defense, after he allegedly reached for a gun. Her fate was then determined, despite family testimony from both her biological and adoptive mothers of a troubled and abusive childhood. Jurors still convicted her of first-degree murder. She received a life sentence.

“At the end of the day, if we’ve raised a topic that’s worth discussing, maybe you’ll do just that.”

Those words were used by Director Dan Birman on Wednesday evening when asked about what he hoped to achieve with his latest documentary.

Birman is a documentarian and associate professor of professional practice at the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism. He heard about Cyntoia’s case right after it happened, and he was on a plane to Nashville with camera in hand the next day.

Thus began “Me Facing Life: Cyntoia’s Story,” whose showing concluded with a panel discussion. The documentary will be featured on PBS’ Independent Lens series and is set to air in early 2011. This was Birman’s 26th documentary, but his first on a legal case.

When asked about the process of making the documentary, Birman described it as “incredibly intense,” but also said this would certainly not be his last social justice film. Ellenette Brown, Cyntoia’s adoptive mother, was also in Shamblin for the screening and spoke on the panel afterwards.

“I have still have hope that one day Cyntonia will walk free, and although it is difficult to watch, I’m thankful for this film and hope that it will touch others and spark change,” Brown said.  “Her hope that others will be touched has already been fulfilled.”

“Me Facing Life: Cyntoia’s Story” is a tale of tragedy that brought many in the audience to tears. Through those tears, Cyntoia’s story has and will continue to touch lives.