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The documentary focuses on three primary subjects, each a parent who lost a child at Sandy Hook Elementary School that fateful December 2012 day. Its Connecticut premiere will be Saturday, June 11, at 3 p.m. at Bowtie Cinemas in Greenwich as part of The Greenwich International Film Festival. It will also be shown Sunday, June 12, at 6 p.m., with some of the families in documentary at both screenings.
Already, it's gotten significant -- and positive -- buzz, with critics describing it as “powerful and illuminating," "never exploitative and always honest," and "a breathtaking gut punch."
The documentary, three years in the making, opens up difficult conversations, explained Snyder. But it's her hope -- along with Cuomo Cole's -- that it also shows the strength and dignity of the Newtown community.
"This is a story of collective grief," she said. "Of what happens when the cameras are gone, of the fallout of this kind of trajectory and how it affected not only the entire town, but the entire country."
Snyder said she approached the documentary in an organic way, starting first with the interfaith community, in particular with Monsignor Robert Weiss, aka Father Bob, and spoke only to people who wanted to talk to her.
"The story is not a re-enactment about the tragedy," stressed Cuomo Cole. "It's about the community aftermath." Nor is it a social advocacy or political film.
"We don't sugarcoat things -- you can't with this subject matter," said Cuomo Cole. "But we do hope, that we can honor the pain and the hope that something can change."
Snyder added that the documentary shows the community's incredible inspiration of paying it forward; of feeling like they don’t want this to happen to anyone else and of doing anything they can in any way to make a difference.
To that end, both Snyder and Cuomo Cole are launching a social impact campaign to delve into issues related to health messaging and violence. It's not just gun violence, they are quick to point out, but violence in general in our culture.
The movie, which has already been shown privately to select members of the Newtown community, is poised to have a theatrical release in September with a national broadcast on PBS’s "Independent Lens" in early 2017.
Snyder and Cuomo Cole, the latter of whom raised her children in Purchase and Rye, however, are most excited for the Greenwich screening. Said Cuomo-Cole: "The Connecticut premiere has a very special moment in our festival trajectory as it encompasses so many neighboring communities and friends of ours in neighboring communities."
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