An Open Letter to the Community

Rochester Recovery Film Festival Open Town Hall Meeting
September 14, 2014
12:00p.m.-1:300p.m.
Monroe Community College
Topics
Treatment, Prevention,Education, Addiction in Our Community

Thank You for taking the time to read this letter. I write this letter in effort to persuade you to possibly put aside some time on Sunday September 14,2014. I realize how precious time can be. After all Sunday is a day of rest, a day to spend time with the family, a day to watch some football, right? Well I am still going to ask you to put aside a few hours to come join in, to be apart of, to help out, to bring some families back together, to help maybe someone living on the streets, to help your community, your town, your village, your neighborhood.

You see what I am asking you to do is help, inspire, educate, teach, make others aware, become aware yourself. I hope you can understand that what I'm talking about is a subject that people don't like to talk about. Some of us are ashamed, some of us are mad, some of us are scared, some of us are confused and most of us are misinformed. They call us names,They beat us down, they judge us. We hide, We stand in the shadows, we look down and yes we even deny who we are and what we are.

What! Who not us!

You see all of us as a community even tried to deny that it even existed. Not Here, Not in my Town, Not in my Village, Not in My Neighborhood, Not on my Street, Not in my House, Not in My Family, Not Me!

That only happens in the City, Poor People, Gangs, Thugs, Junkies,

Was that thinking a mistake?

Oh! What a Mistake

I think we know by now that addiction is alive and well in the city, in the suburbs.

I hope we are smart enough to know that sweeping this under the rug , by ignoring it and by listening to a lot of misinformation from a lot of misinformed people is doing us nothing. The results are in - a huge spike in gang violence, more crime, more victims, more drug related overdoses and deaths, more hospital visits, more people homeless, etc,etc.

We can no longer stand in the shadows or live under the rug. We have to do something, you have to do something, our community needs to do something.

You see the media doesn't seem to care about finding a solution. The media doesn't seem to care about slowing down the overdoses, the deaths, the lives destroyed, the families torn apart. The media only seems interested in glamorizing the overdoses, the deaths, the violence, the crime, the stigma.

So if you are an elected public official or representative, we encourage you to come. If you are a public servant involved in law enforcement, EMT, education, fire,anyone we invite you to come. If you are in recovery or want to be in recovery or you have a loved one in active addiction or in long term recovery we encourage you to come.

The Rochester Recovery Film Festival Open Town Hall Meeting

Monroe Community College

 September 14, 2014

12:00 p.m.- 1:30 p.m.

Topics include

Prevention, Treatment, Education, Addiction in our Community

Now about that football game. You might miss the first half but that is what DVR's are for. Plus by showing up you might just help somebody or your community. You might save a life.

David Attridge

Director

Rochester Recovery Film Festival

Rochesterrecoveryfilmfestival.org

Only 5 Days Left to Get Your Early Bird Discount Weekend and Daily Passes

Only 5 Days left to get Your Early Bird Discount Weekend and Daily Passes for The Rochester Recovery Film Festival to Be held September 12, 13,14, 2014 at Monroe Community College in Rochester, NY.
The Weekend Pass will only be $25.00 for the next 5 Days and on August 1,2014 will increase to $30.00.
The Daily Passes will only be $15.00 until August 1,2014 before they increase to $17.00 .
Go to rochesterrecoveryfilmfest.org

Gallery de Moo to Premier at The Rochester Recovery Film Festival

Gallery de Moo

In keeping with its primary purpose to show that " The Opportunities are Endless in Recovery" People in Recovery are some of the most creative people on the Planet. This is why The Rochester Recovery Film Festival is proud to announce the premier of Gallery de Moo an exhibit of art created by people in long term Recovery. 

The Exhibit will be available throughout all 3 days of the festival and admission is included with your weekend or daily pass.

Submissions for the exhibit are still available to be submitted through August 15,2014 and any art can be submitted for consideration.

Weekend and Daily Passes are available now through our website rochesterrecoveryfilmfest.org

Early Bird Discount Weekend Passes and Daily Passes Available Only Till July 31,2014

Head to rochesterrecoveryfilmfest.org

To get Your Discounted Weekend Passes and Discounted Daily Passes.

Until July 31,2014 at 11:59 p.m. 

Weekend Passes will be only

$25.00 ( Regular $40.00)

For The Entire Weekend This will include Every Event Except The Awards Banquet

( Award Banquet Tickets Will Go on Sale August 1,2014)

These Special Early Bird Weekend Passes Will Include A VIP Parking Pass

( One Per Order)

Early Bird Discounted Daily Passes are Available

For only $15.00 (Regular $25.00)

This includes All Events that Day (Excludes Award Banquet)

These Prices are also only Available until July 31,2014

Go Now

Sobering Thoughts Makes it's Festival Premier at The Rochester Recovery Film Festival

The Rochester Recovery Council is pleased to announce the festival

premier of short film/documentary " Sobering Thoughts:Three Mothers' Stories of Addiction" as part of our Saturday night "Women in Recovery" series.
Sobering Thoughts - Three Mothers' Stories of Addiction is a 25 minute documentary that tells the story of three mothers caught in the wrath of active addiction who used drugs and alcohol during pregnancy. These stories are interwoven with the thoughts of six professionals active in the fields of women and recovery with an emphasis on pregnancy and addiction.
Drinking and Substance abuse while pregnant is an unfortunate reality that many women face alone. This Documentary highlights women who have walked through this unbelievable, painful experience while giving a voice to the possibility of healing, recovering, relapse, motherhood and spirituality.
Sobering Thoughts will premier at The Rochester Recovery Film Festival just before "On Life's Terms: Mothers in Recovery" on Saturday September 14,2014 at 8:30pm.
Tickets are available now with weekend passes still available.

Russell Brand's Addiction to Recovery to be Featured at The Rochester Recovery Film Festival

The Rochester Recovery Council is pleased to announce Russell Brand's Addiction to Recovery as another Featured Film to be shown at this years Rochester Recovery Film Festival.
Russell Brand a Comedian,Actor,Radio Host,Author and Activist is known for many things such as the movies "Forgetting Sarah Marshall", "Arthur", "Get Him to The Greek" and "Rock of Ages".
You have probably heard Brand's voice in "Despicable Me","Hop" and "Despicable Me 2"
Brand is also know for his controversies following his dismissal from MTV. His resignation from the BBC for making prank phone calls on air.
Brand also is a voice and critic for many global issues. A man not afraid to speak out for those who can't.
Drugs and Alcohol Addiction, The Disease of Addiction are also a major part of Brand's story.
Ten years ago Russell Brand was addicted to Heroin, his career was unraveling and he was told he may have only 6 months to live. The story of how he battled to stay clean of drugs is at the heart of this eye opening and searingly honest, personal film in which Brand challenges how our society deals with Addicts and Addiction.

It comes in the tragic wake of the death of his friend Amy Whinehouse, which was the spur to the exploration of the " Condition of Addiction"  which he believes is misunderstood and wrongly treated. Brand meets a whole range of people from whom he draws insight, scientists at the cutting edge of the psychology of The disease of addiction, those involved in innovative recovery treatments and even those still caught in the grip of addiction. Is addiction a disease? Should it be criminalized? Is abstinence based recovery, which worked for Brand a step forward?
In this documentary Brand challenges conventional theory and practice as well as Government policy in his own inimitable style, confronting the disease of addiction head on. Along the way he draws on his own experience to try and help one of the addicts he meets to take the first steps towards recovery. Armed with his own heartfelt beliefs and insights he gained during his journey, Brand has the opportunity to change the hearts and minds  of policy makers when he is invited to give evidence to the Home Affairs Select Committee on the current efficiency of drug addiction treatment in the UK.
Russell Brand's Addiction to Recovery will be featured at The Rochester Recovery Film Festival on Saturday September 13,2014 at 10:45 pm and will be followed by a 40 minute Q&A. "Russell Brand with his documentary brings such a Powerful voice for people in Recovery and People still in active addiction by bringing to light the need for treatment and aftercare..We are honored to be able to bring that voice to Upstate New York." said David Attridge Executive Director of The Rochester Recovery Film Festival.
Discount Weekend Passes are available now for purchase at www.rochesterrecoveryfilmfestival.org

Gambling Addiction and Me: The Real Hustler Added to The List of Great Films at The Rochester Recovery Film Festival

                         Gambling Addiction and Me: The Real Hustler
An expert poker player and a man who feels at home in a casino, Alexis enjoys the thrill he gets from gambling. But what for Alexis is a pleasurable past time and part of a career, is a habit that ruined his father. This personal contact with the disease of addiction  is what prompted Alexis to explore the tipping point that turns the odd flutter into something darker and more dangerous.
In this hard hitting documentary Alexis asks why people can't place one bet and then walk away,When some men and women are compelled to lose their shirt, their house and their families on a losing streak.Traveling around British to Las Vegas and to Athens, Greece, Alexis meets gambling addicts, experts and members of his own family to try and understand what makes gambling for some a compulsion that can end in ruin.
Gambling Addiction and Me : The Real Hustler will be shown at The Rochester Recovery Film Festival on Saturday September 13,2014  at Monroe Community College at 2:00pm and will be followed by Q &A about the film.
Tickets are available now with  discount weekend passes for only $30.00 available until August 30,2014

The Anonymous People Makes a Return Engagement at The Rochester Recovery Film Festival

After a near sellout at the Little Theater in Rochester, NY on April 6, 2014 The Rochester Recovery Council is proud to announce the return engagement of The Anonymous People to The Rochester Recovery Film Festival as this years closing film of the festival on September 14,2014 at Monroe Community College.
The Anonymous People is a feature documentary film about the 23.5 million American people living in long term recovery from addiction to alcohol and other drugs. Deeply entrenched social stigma and discrimination have kept recovery voices silent and faces hidden for decades. The vacuum created by this silence has been filled by mass media deception of people in active addiction that continue to perpetuate a lurid public fascination at the dysfunctional side of what is a preventable and treatable health condition. Just like women with breast cancer or people with HIV/Aids, courageous addiction recovery advocates are starting to come out of the shadows to tell their true  stories.
 The moving story of The Anonymous People is told through the faces and voices of leaders, volunteers,corporate executives and celebrities who are laying all on the line in order to save lives of others just like them. This passionate new recovery movement is fueling a  changing conversation that aims to transform public opinion and finally shift problematic policy toward lasting Recovery Solutions.
"This what The Rochester Recovery Film Festival is all about, making people aware that recovery is possible. I am living proof of that today.Addiction is a disease but it can be arrested. The disease of addiction is everywhere in some of our homes,  and neighborhoods. There are services available to those with this disease. No one should have to die from this disease. The recovery movement needs to be as active as the disease." Said David Attridge, Director of The Rochester Recovery Film Festival.

On Life's Terms: Mothers in Recovery Another Must See At The Rochester Recovery Film Festival

The Rochester Recovery Council is proud to announce another must see documentary at this years Rochester Recovery Film Festival On Life's Terms: Mothers in Recovery. This highly acclaimed documentary has people talking everywhere.
On Life's Terms:Mothers in Recovery follows five women struggling to keep their children as they battle addict Center Point Inc. A women and children residential treatment program in San Rafel,California. Their intimate stories reveals experiences with domestic violence, prostitution and Incarceration, as they courageously step onto the path of self-sufficiency with integrity and pride.
Their three year journey is told against the backdrop of drug laws and policies affecting both the mother and child. This timely film impacts the stigma and encourages greater understanding and underlying issues about the disease of addiction and promotes  the widely needed need for substance abuse treatment vs incarceration.
This documentary film is written,produced,edited and directed by Sheila Ganz. Bringing hidden issues to light, this black belt in karate and activist for women and children everywhere. Ganz is no stranger to the film industry. A film instructor at Film Arts Foundation, Ganz also wrote two full length stage plays "Pretend it Didn't Happen" and "Leaving Joe". None of that stopped Ganz as she completed her first film documentary "Unlocking the Heart" which has shown audiences worldwide the lifelong process of adoption for adoptees, birthparents and adoptive parents in same race and trans racial adoptions with illuminating historical background.

On Life's Terms:Mothers in Recovery will be shown at The Rochester Recovery Film Festival on Saturday September 13,2014 at Monroe Community College at 8:00pm.

King's Faith announced as The Rochester Recovery Film Festival Opener

The Rochester Recovery Council is proud to announce this years opening film at The Rochester Recovery Film Festival September 12,2014.
King's Faith directed by Nicholas DiBella and written by DiBella and Paul Root King's Faith is about a teen named Brendan King and after his life hits rock bottom , the teen finds hope in a new relationship with Christ while serving time in a Juvenile Detention Center.After his release from prison Brendan finds solace in the foster home of a couple struggling with suppressed grief. As the city-bred teen enrolls in the local suburban high school, his support comes from a group of believers. Yet the bonds of his old way of life-and the gang that wants to know where he hid their stash from a night long ago are strong.

In his darkest moments Brendan finds faith. Now he must decide whether its worth the price to hold onto it.
King's Faith stars Emmy Award winning actor Lynn Whitfield along with Crawford Wilson, Kayla Compton and James McDaniels.
"With Spirituality and faith in a Higher Power being vital to any type of recovery and with some of the scenes being filmed in Rochester, We felt King's Faith was the perfect choice to have as our Opening film at this years Rochester Recovery Film Festival." Said the Recovery Film Festival's director David Attridge.
King's Faith will be shown at the Rochester Recovery Film Festival Opening night September 12,2014 at Monroe Community College in Rochester, NY at 7:00 pm. Following the film will be a 40 minute question and answer session with executives from the film including director Nicholas DiBella.
To view a trailer of the film please visit the film's website at kingsfaith.com