Comments from our audiences
"I am an Army vet living with PTSD. Usually after seeing a film about traumatic events, I leave feeling worse than I went in. After viewing your film I feel healed in a sense. I feel hope that I can begin to make sense of the trauma I have experienced."
- Army Veteran , Fort Lauderdale
"I worked for the Florida Health Department as a COVID Tracker, interviewing hundreds of COVID patients throughout many months. After watching your film, for the first time I understand the secondary trauma I have experienced. I feel understood. And with understanding comes healing." - Healthcare worker, Coral Springs, Florida
"As an emergency room nurse, I want to thank you for including the trauma that our nursing staff has experienced as a result of the pandemic. Thank you."
- Head of Nursing, Los Angeles
"I am a parent of a schizophrenic son and I am astounded at the truth and accuracy you portrayed. I am so grateful for the truth and reality in this film that shows what families experience when trying to find help for our mentally ill children. I literally had to sit in my seat crying for several minutes before I could speak. Thank you for telling this story." - Parent, Toronto, Canada
"I wanted to let you know I absolutely loved your movie last night!! The story was so important and good. All of our first responders during Covid went through so much, and I think it took a toll on all of us, especially young people. Just beautifully written and directed. The cinematography was beautiful. The acting Superb. I’m very impressed with your work. You’re doing good things!" - Audience member, Los Angeles
"After screening hundreds of Florida films over the past twenty years, I have never seen one of this quality. Kudos to you for making a Hollywood quality film and sharing it with our festival."
-Gregory Von Hausen, Festival Founder and Director Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival
"Bridge to the Other Side, a poignant film demonstrating the mental health emergencies faced by many each day. Mental illness touches all walks of life, including first responders. KT vividly tells a complex story through the work of a realistically crisis team and the people they help. It is a story that entertains, enlightens, and offers hope. Well done"-
-Terry Cassidy, LCSW
Executive Director of Behavioral Health Services at Bayside
"A thoughtful and moving film about the challenges of first responders in a mobile response unit providing care to people with mental health crises. It is a film that illustrates that mental health challenges reach across the spectrums of age, wealth, education, gender, religion, socioeconomic class and race. The film touches many aspects of the human experience from anxiety to depression to schizophrenia to alcoholism to anger to suicidal thoughts to grief and moving forward and to the stress of first responders and caregivers. And throughout the film is woven a thread of hope and healing with the awareness that there are tangible ways to help those in our midst that struggle with mental health challenges. It inspires us to take action. Highly recommend." -Allison Menezes
-Emmeline Hayes, LMHC
Mobile Response Team Supervisor St. Augustine Youth Services
'The thing I found really enlightening about this movie was it shows the rich, the poor, male, female, with no racial bias. It shows in a very graphic way, how mental health impacts ALL of community and doesn’t stigmatize a particular part of our community as most movies do.” -Jon Thaxton
Gulf Coast Community Foundation
"The last few years have been challenging and stressful for all of us. COVID, culture wars, economic pressures have all led to a distressing increase in mental health issues. Those tasked with helping those in distress, our first responders, are not exempt. In fact, in the face of dealing with the trauma of others, their personal anxiety is only magnified. Bridge to the Other Side tells this story. It is an honest, heartfelt and powerful account of our times and shines a light on the heroes that are helping others and coping, as best they can. Brava to Curran for bringing her cinematic skills to this important issue."
-Felice Schulaner
"Heart stopping......this movie tells a powerful story about why Mobile Response Teams are essential to our nation’s first responders. Kudos to the filmmaker for accurately depicting mental health crises and the importance of Mobile Response Teams to prevent deadly outcomes.”
"When I learned about your film, I knew we needed to gather with our local fire rescue personnel and counseling professionals. I am hopeful that your film will continue to serve as a catalyst for deepening our care for our first responders who are hurting. Your beautiful film could not have come to our community in a more perfect season. The last year has been painfully marked by the tragic deaths of three beloved firefighters within six months of one another. Two of these firefighters took their own lives.
As you continue to share your film, I hope Elbow Tree can be part of your grassroots effort to help get mental health resources into the hands of even more first responders with even greater ease. Group therapy is also on our radar as a resource we may begin to offer within the next year as well. I loved how that showed up in the film as well! Thank you again for sharing this important film. It could not have come at a more important time in our county and our country!"
-Hayne Steen, LMHC
Owner, Elbow Tree Cooperative, LLC
"From the opening scene on the bridge, this film grabs your attention and carries you on a roller coaster ride for the duration of the movie. In the pursuit of happiness, all of us strive to live happy and productive lives, however this journey does not always have a positive trajectory as we discover through the eyes of first responders called out to deal with behavioral emergencies as they unfold.
Many stressors in life revolve around relationships and work and we can see elements of ourselves through the characters in this movie. Whether or not we have experienced these situations in our own lives, chances are we know someone who has. In the end the movie pivots to show that there is help and hope for all those who are fortunate enough to receive it voluntarily or involuntarily.
As we know in Florida, with time the sun eventually comes out regardless of the storms we endure. This film should be required viewing for teens and adults across the country."
-Cliff Menzes
"We thoroughly enjoyed the movie. It was very educational as well as emotional. The two stars were perfectly cast. The subject matter was handled intelligently. We stayed a full hour after the viewing discussing the film. It really helped to have our first responders there sharing their insights. They were humble, authentic and courageous."
-Mark Pritchett
President | CEO
Gulf Coast Community Foundation
"The movie was so beautiful and professional I was honestly a bit blown away. As you know we work a lot in the mental health space at Gulf Coast and I consider myself to be relatively knowledgeable about the needs and gaps. But I’m not a social worker nor a first responder so the movie really brought this big complex issue down to an individual level and helped me to experience it from a different perspective than usual. It was such an interesting experience to have people from Lee County fire department there too. Their comments after were so genuine and they appreciated this venture more than any of us really know. And, while the topic is heavy, it was pretty neat to see a movie set in Sarasota."
--Kirsten Fulkerson
Seinor Vice President for Philanthropy Gulf Coast Community Foundation
"The movie did a remarkable job with looking at the effects of trauma and sometimes trauma on top of trauma of our important and valued first responders – and a call to action – or how support could and should look like for those that keep us safe during trying and difficult times. The idea to have attendees from a broad spectrum of the community (first-responders, community providers, elected officials, funders, etc.) was a great idea as everyone had a different take away on what we need to do to move the needle on not only providing better support to our first responders, but how we as an entire community need to take a good hard look at the effects of unaddressed trauma."
-Keith Leahey, MSW
Chief of Behavioral Health Services JFCS of the Suncoast
What a spectacular night watching a private screening of a brilliantly written and directed film about mental health and a social worker in a firehouse.
KT Curran, may you keep winning film festivals and bringing awareness about first responders and mental health!
-Nicole Navega
PhD, LCSW
Lee County EMS Crew Care
"Your film is wonderful! It is so professional and impactful that I haven’t stopped thinking about all the excellent and touching moments. I am so impressed by your ability to take a complex problem and present it in a multi-faceted story that shows the problem and also touches my heart."
-Deb Kabinoff
CEO, Gulfstar Homes
"In the near future, you may have the opportunity to see Bridge to the Other Side. When it happens, don’t miss it. KT Curran and team did an incredible job."
-John Annis
Charles & Margery Barancik Foundation
"Incredible movie! So grateful to KT Curran for bringing so much awareness to compassion fatigue and mental health. Thank you "
-Sidney Turner, PhD Resilient Retreat