Many stories told on the big screen during the Newport Beach Film Festival aren’t just for entertainment – they aim to inspire.
“Stronger Than You Think,” directed by Janice C. Molinari and Melissa Forman, will have its West Coast premiere telling the story of Ali Truwit, whose leg was amputated following a shark attack in 2023.
The injury didn’t slow her down — a year later, the competitive swimmer earned two silver medals at the 2024 Paris Paralympics.
“I am really excited to have it premiere at the Newport Beach Film Festival, and so grateful to the festival for shining such a bright light on ‘Stronger Than You Think,’” Truwit said via cell phone from her home in New York. “I really believe in the power of storytelling to help and to heal myself and others. And so my goal with this documentary was really that it would do that … shine a light on turning trauma into hope.”
The big lesson learned, she said, is we are all stronger than we think.
“We all have this ability within us to rise back up after life knocks us down,” she said.
The film documents Truwit’s journey following the shark attack during a graduation celebratory trip to Turks and Caicos, everything from the hospital following her amputation, to getting back into the water, to a year later making the podium at the 2024 Paris Paralympics.
It shows the “ups and downs” of that journey, she said, learning how to live life as an amputee and adjusting to her new reality.
“I’m typically a pretty private person,” Truwit said. “To have something so public definitely felt like a new, scarier thing.”
But she wanted to show what she calls “the mess of now.”
“I wanted to show exactly what that road looks like, which is bumpy with constant setbacks and a lot of unknown,” she said.
“Stronger Than You Think” will have its West Coast premiere at the Newport Beach Film Festival showcasing Ali Truwit, whose leg was amputated following a shark attack. A year later, she was on the podium at the 2024 Paris Paralympics. (Photo courtesy of Truwit family)When filming started in March of 2024, less than a year following the May 2023 attack, it was unknown whether Truwit would make Team USA, or if she would medal months later.
Since her story has been told, not just in film but through media interviews and news segments, she said she has received countless messages from people saying her story has inspired them, whether they are going through physical challenges or other trauma, even divorce or financial hardships.
“This notion that we’re all stronger than we think, that we all have more capacity in us than we may realize, was motivating them to get back to their lives,” Truwit said. “And that was the most healing thing to me.”
She wanted to show there is joy and beauty in life after trauma, she said, even if it comes with setbacks along the way.
“Although my story of being attacked by a shark is wildly unique, there’s so much universality in the struggles and the hardships and the challenges that I faced along my recovery road,” she said.
Truwit had graduated Yale University, studying cognitive science and behavioral economics, and was already a competitive swimmer at the school when she went on the celebration trip.
“I have always been a lifelong athlete,” she said. “I’ve always just loved exercise in athletics as a mood booster.”
Getting back into the water to compete wasn’t easy, but making the Paralympics was a special moment in her journey.
“I think for me, there’s so many everyday American heroes who rose up and saved my life and helped me rebuild it, and getting to race with the American flag on my cap as a thank you to all of those heroes just felt so wildly special,” she said. “It was just the coolest, most special thing.”
The film first premiered in Nashville last month, the hometown of a friend Sophie Pilkinton, who was in the water with her during the attack and applied a tourniquet to help save her life.
“That felt like such a gift to have her own hometown come out and see her heroism firsthand,” Truwit said.
The documentary has the same name as the nonprofit Truwit started, Stronger Than You Think, which raises funds for water safety, the Paralympic movement and funding for prosthetics for young women and girls.
“Becoming an amputee, I was just shocked to learn how expensive prosthetics are and how little is covered by insurance relative to what’s needed,” she said. “I feel like the documentary is just also having great potential to drive much-needed awareness and funding to those three focuses.”
Truwit said she is excited to visit Newport Beach, not just to show the film, but to scope out the area with her next goal in sight: LA2028.
She plans to attend the showing of the 100-minute film on Sunday, Oct. 19, with a second screening on Wednesday, Oct. 22.
More info: newportbeachfilmfest.com
Related Articles
Dana Point hosts 50th anniversary “Jaws” showing at Baby Beach in Dana Point Lifeguards receive Medal of Valor, Heroic Act awards for rescues along the coast ‘Good vibes’ led to rescue saving Dana Point surfer paralyzed during accident Pacific Airshow takes over skies and sand in Surf City Would San Clemente voters approve 1% sales tax to restore beaches, better fire protection?Hence then, the article about stronger than you think details journey of shark attack amputee to 2024 paris podium was published today ( ) and is available on The Orange County Register ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( ‘Stronger Than You Think’ details journey of shark attack amputee to 2024 Paris podium )
Also on site :