New York special screening of the EPIX original documentary “The Current” part of the ReelAbilities: NY Disabilities Film Festival and co-hosted by The JCC in Manhattan at the Times Center in New York City.
Director Kurt Miller rallied up quite an inspirational group of real life athletes with disabilities and ambassadors for his film “The Current”, where the cast all had the opportunity to experience another form of healing via the ocean waters.
Walking away with more than just a chance to check off items on a wish-list, these brave souls were enlightened on the notion that whether physically disabled or not, we are all equal in the eyes of the ocean. Further conquering their fears, as this cluster of folks were known for already, swimming with sharks, dolphins and whales, scuba diving alongside the ocean floors, and exploring the underwater world left as much an impression o
n them as they do daily for others through their own respective causes.
Ambassador and Olympic Gold medalist athlete herself, Missy Franklin joined Paralympics swimming medalist Mallory Weggemann, who became paralyzed after an epidural injection in 2008 that left her unable to walk again and NCAA wrestler Anthony Robles, who was born without a leg, went to the Bimini Islands of the Bahamas, where they swam alongside dolphins and sharks, all the while, discovering their freedom amid the current. At the very same place where civil rights activist Martin Luther King wrote some of his best speeches, Mallory, lost her ability to walk on MLK Day five years prior to filming the documentary. She went scuba diving with her father and brother as she celebrated her 5th year of overcoming.
As they surveyed the ocean floors in beautiful Cozumel (Mexico), Jesse Murphree, the war vet that suffered double leg amputations created a brotherly bond with other cast members Leo Morales (cancer survivor), David Hosick (paralytic rugby player), and known environmentalist and educator of the healing powers of the ocean, Jean-Michel Cousteau. These men were weightless against the oceans current, as stated by Cousteau who more than anything wanted the crew to appreciate the powers of the underwater world.
And on a somewhat of a couples retreat, newly married, professional surfer Bethany “Soul Surfer” Hamilton, who lost her arm in 2003 at age 13 to a shark bite connected with adventurer/snowmobiler Grant Korgan, who endured a spinal cord injury leaving him paralyzed at Hamilton’s birthplace of Kauai, Hawaii. The athletes surfed those famous Kauai waves, while their spouses continued on by the sand as their support systems. And from there, the couples went scuba diving and even took a helicopter up to the mountains to take in the sky views. Swimming alongside sharks was amazing (this time around) as stated by Bethany when asked about her experience.
The film is scheduled to make its world-wide EPIX premiere on March 12, 2014. Be sure not to miss it, it was stellar.
-Sade Graham
