'Newtown' Documentary to Premiere at Greenwich Film Festival

NEWTOWN, CT — The film opens with an aerial shot of Sandy Hook Elementary School, once a safe haven for thousands of students who passed through its doors, now known as the place where the most horrific tragedy of our time took place— the place where 26 innocent lives were violently taken.

"For the first several months I could not imagine why anyone in the world would want to go back into that school. And one morning, and it was literally one morning, I woke up and I had to go," Benjamin's Wheeler's father said, choking back tears.

"I knew the school was going to be torn down and I had to see it before it was gone forever. It answered small minor questions that turn into huge questions when you're unable to sleep. Where was he? What did it look like? How big was the room? What it gave me was a remarkable amount of respect and admiration for the men and women who were there."

The families of Benjamin Wheeler, Dylan Hockley and Daniel Barden, as well as a handful of others, shared their heartbreaking stories in the 85-minute documentary about insurmountable grief, unimaginable loss and how they manage to get through each day after such a horrific tragedy.

Director Kim A. Snyder recently hosted a private screening to members of the Newtown community at the Newtown Congregational Church. Many left in silence after the somber viewing of the film, while others stayed for the Q & A, wanting to thank the director or tell some of their own stories of that fateful day.

While the film does not have a political message, it does touch on some things that need to change to ensure this type of tragedy won't happen again.

The film's theatrical release will take place in September and a national broadcast is slated for early 2017 on PBS’s Independent Lens.

This weekend the documentary will make its Connecticut premiere at the Greenwich International Film Festival. Show times are at 3 p.m. Saturday and 6 p.m. Sunday at the Bow Tie Cinema, 2 Railroad Ave., Greenwich.

For details about the film visit the film website.

To buy tickets visit the festival website.

Image via imdb