Mental Health America National Conference & NYC Premiere Roundup
MENTAL HEALTH AMERICA FILM FESTIVAL & CONFERENCE
At Mental Health America's Annual Conference and 1st Annual Film Festival, Captain Luis Carlos Montalván, an Iraq War veteran and author of Until Tuesday: A Wounded Warrior and the Golden Retriever Who Saved Him, & his service dog Tuesday joined filmmaker Ben Selkow for a screening of the film and a dialog with the audience in addition to both being invited to speak on MHA Conference breakout group panels. A rapt crowd engaged in a passionate, emotional and inspiring conversation afterwards that continued long into the night.
Captain Luis Montalván and filmmaker Ben Selkow at the MHA 1st Annual Film Festival
Luis & Tuesday are to be commended for their continued bravery in life and endeavoring on the intrepid expedition of making a documentary with us. Luis and assisted by Tuesday leads an inspirational life, rising from the ashes of PTSD, to work extremely hard to rebuild himself, inspire and pull up 100,000's of others from all walks of life, deconstruct the failures of bad (or absent) policy, and push forward a message of hope. Perhaps the most innovative thing Tuesday and he do is seek to engage children and their parents to raise awareness, compassion and a broader worldview for the next generation through their children's (and parents) books Tuesday Tucks Me In and Tuesday Takes Me There. You can follow their adventures, community and upcoming appearances on the Facebook page for Until Tuesday.
NEW YORK CITY PREMIERE OF BURIED ABOVE GROUND AT IFC CENTER
The New York City Premiere of Buried Above Ground at the IFC Center was powerful with a packed house of the filmmakers (including editors James Lester and Flavia de Souza, co-producer Joedan Okun, DP Artem Agafonov, trailer editors Yasu Inoue and Craig Newton), colleagues, mental health advocates and the service dog organization that brought Tuesday into Luis’ life, Educated Canines Assisting with Disabilities (ECAD) led by executive director Lu Picard. Mental Health Association-NYC set up a table and made resources available to the audience for National PTSD Awareness Month.
IFC Center in downtown Manhattan
The setting for the screening was nostalgic for filmmaker Ben Selkow, as the IFC Center sits across the street from “The Cage” street basketball court on West 4th Street where he began his first documentary film A Summer in the Cage (Sundance Channel, 2007).
Ellis Hanican and filmmaker Ben Selkow during the Q&A
Author, news pundit and former radio host Ellis Hanican hosted the evening and led a dynamic Q&A and audience talkback after the screening.
Selkow, Captain Luis Montalván and Tuesday during the Q&A
Director Ben Selkow, co-producer Joedan Okun, Maryse Alberti, co-editor Flavia de Souza, Susanne Rostock and Katharine Bailey
The night ended with filmmaker Ben Selkow, co-producer Joedan Okun and co-editor Flavia de Souza joining with old filmmaker colleagues for a late-night toast in the West Village.
WATCH THE TRAILER
PRESS COVERAGE | You can read more on our press page here:http://buriedaboveground.tv/media-coverage
HOST A SCREENING OF BURIED ABOVE GROUND | If you would like to host a screening of BURIED ABOVE GROUND, please contact us: http://buriedaboveground.tv/book-a-screening
GENERAL INFO | For more information about BURIED ABOVE GROUND, please find us at: http://buriedaboveground.tv
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