An NYIndieSeen staffer had the opportunity to sit in on a Q&A with Academy Award winning documentary filmmaker Cynthia Wade in a very moving cinematic piece called Freeheld. Freeheld is about Lieutenant Laurel Hester who is dying of lung cancer. All she wants to do is leave her pension benefits to her life partner - Stacie, so Stacie can afford to keep their house. Laurel is told no, because they are not husband and wife. After spending a lifetime fighting for justice for other people, Laurel - a veteran New Jersey detective - launches a final battle for justice. Knuckle-biting, dramatic Freeheld chronicles a dying policewoman's bitter fight to provide for the love of her life.
The film won an Oscar for Best Documentary short subject. The film's director Cynthia Wade is a local who lives in Park Slope, Brooklyn. She pulled together the financing for the film on her own and was pretty much a one-man crew. The project took 10 weeks to shoot and was shot on a whim because of the sickly former lieutenant who is fighting for her life to tell her story. It's a poignant picture and speak to equal rights for all people regardless of race, gender, or sexual preference.
Definitely a film to watch. Below is a trailer of the Oscar winning film.
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