Surviving Pulse: Life after a Mass Shooting
On June 12th, Pulse Nightclub was hopping with happy club goers until the unthinkable happened, a terrorist attack affecting hundreds of people and taking 49 lives. This attack would be known as the largest massacre in US history. We are bringing you exclusive interviews with survivors and victims families talking about how Pulse Nightclub was a safe place for the LGBTQ community. A place where everyone was family and patrons could be themselves.
Stories of some of the survivors who haven’t had the opportunity to tell their accounts of that night, and how it affected them. These interviews take place over a 5 year period so we get to see how their lives have changed and what struggles remain.
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Alexa SheehanDirector
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Nancy McBrideProducer
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Julie ChalhoubPost Production Supervisor / Editor
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Project Type:Documentary, Feature
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Genres:LGBTQ, Social Issues, Mass Shooting, Massacre, Recovery, PTSD, Love
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Runtime:1 hour 13 minutes 15 seconds
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Completion Date:September 30, 2021
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Country of Origin:United States
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Country of Filming:United States
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Language:English
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Shooting Format:Digital
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Aspect Ratio:16:9
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Film Color:Color
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First-time Filmmaker:Yes
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Student Project:No
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Global Peace FestivalDeland, Florida
United States
September 23, 2022 -
Global Non Violent Film FestivalOnline
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Gaze International LGBTQDublin
Ireland -
Awareness FestivalLos Angeles
United States
October 8, 2022 -
Treasure Coast Film FestivalPort St. Lucie
United States -
Shockfest Film Festival
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Dunedin Film FestivalDunedin
United States
Best Documentary -
Reel Deal Film FestivalNew Smyrna Beach
United States -
Merced Queer Film FestivalMerced
United States
May 19, 2022
Best Director -
Cannes World Film FestivalCannes
France
Best Documentary -
EdiplayÉVRY,
France
July 2, 2022
BEST QUEER NARRATIVE -
American Golden Picture International Film FestivalJacksonville
United States
Best Documentary
Alexa Sheehan is a transplant to Florida after almost 20 years in Los Angeles working in the industry and its myriad media content. A member of the Director’s Guild of America, SAG-AFTRA, and a board member of both Women in Film and Television- Florida and Film Florida, she hopes to parlay her experience in Hollywood filmmaking to create and to bring big projects to Florida and shake up the industry here.
She and her husband, an Union Assistant Property Master, created HarborDashery Productions, a local production company in New Smyrna Beach, filming commercial and other media projects for local businesses and schools. She has been a judge in the Orlando 48 Hour Film Festival and Hub on Canal Student Film Festival, Alexa has sat on numerous panels to help educate the new regime of filmmakers, and to share stories of her experience.
This documentary began filming a year after the Pulse tragedy in 2016 which at the time was the largest LGBTQ-targeted mass shooting in United States history. As we interviewed the survivors over the months and years following, we found that the survivors of mass shootings have a very trauma-specific journey that needed to be shared. Sadly, the issue has become more prevalent in today's society and its ripple effect on those that are collateral damage is real. These amazing people have endured, fought, and persevered telling their stories as exclusives. Hear their journeys of strength and hear the human side of the frenzy that often occurs after such an horrendous event occurs. How it is portrayed in the media versus what happens in the lives of those involved, and what it is like to be left behind. We hope we have helped them be heard, and we are honored for them to allow us into their lives as an unconventional vehicle towards healing. They never asked to be survivors.
▶ -Alexa Sheehan