Your support fuels our research to #EndALS! Donate Now
logos
About the Fight ALS Film Fest
This ALS Awareness Month, join us for a panel discussion on these incredible ALS films. This series is being hosted by The ALS Therapy Development Institute (ALS TDI), Her ALS Story and BrainStorm Cell Therapeutics. Our host and emcee for the events will be Sunny of SunnyStrong. Thank you to our sponsor BrainStorm Cell Therapeutics for supporting this incredible program!
Please note, by registering for the film festival, you will receive weekly email reminders two hours before the event with login information for each of the five panel discussions. We ask that all participants watch the films before the panel to have sufficient background knowledge for the discussion.
Week 1 - Extended Trailer of Go On, Be Brave
  • Go On, Be Brave is a film about Andrea Lytle Peet's race against time - a diagnosis of ALS and an attempt at the impossible: to be the first person with ALS to complete a marathon in all 50 states.
  • How to watch: Link to Vimeo with password will be sent to registrants.
  • Panel Discussion: 5/2 7:30 CST
  • Panel Participants: Andrea and Dave Peet, Filmmakers Miriam McSpadden and Brian Beckman
Week 2 - Augie
  • Augie Nieto is known as the Steve Jobs of the fitness industry. At 47, he was diagnosed with ALS. Since then, he and his wife Lynne have been on a quest to change the course of ALS. This is their love story. From the director of Grammy winning and Oscar nominated Glen Campbell...I'll Be Me, comes AUGIE. Armed with irreverent humor and the love of his life by his side, paralysis has done little to slow down the beast inside the genius entrepreneur and Life Fitness mogul, who continues to work every day to find the cure for ALS.
  • How to watch: https://youtu.be/Of8KkixPp4I
  • Panel Discussion: 5/7 7:30 CST
  • Panel Participants: Lynne Nieto, Austin Nieto, Eric Carlson, the film's Second Producer, and the film's Director, James Keach
Week 3 - It's Not Yet Dark
  • It's Not Yet Dark tells the groundbreaking story of Simon Fitzmaurice, a talented young Irish film maker with ALS (MND), as he embarks on directing his first feature film using his eyes and eye gaze technology.
  • How to watch: Streaming free on multiple services.
  • Panel Discussion: 5/14 3:00 CST
  • Panel Participants: Ruth Fitzmaurice
Week 4 - From the Passenger Seat
  • From the Passenger Seat is an educational adventure film that explores one man's exceptional life, a heroic two-year battle with ALS, and an epic farewell road trip. Through a creative lens, F4D Studio shows what life can be when it is lived with purpose, immobile vigor, and an unquenchable thirst for experiences.
  • How to watch: https://fromthepassengerseatfilm.com/, use code “GARY” to watch for free.
  • Panel Discussion: 5/23 at 7:30 CST
  • Panel Participants: Gabe Rovick and Cindy Wyman
Week 5 - Matter of Mind : My ALS
  • Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a neuromuscular disease with an average survival time of 2-5 years from diagnosis. In this intimate exploration, three people with ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease, bravely face different paths as they live with this progressively debilitating illness.
  • How to watch: PBS
  • Panel Discussion: 5/28 at 7:30 CST
  • Panel Participants: Michele Stellato and Charlie Wren
About ALS TDI
The ALS Therapy Development Institute (ALS TDI) and its researchers quickly discover and validate potential treatments for ALS. It is the world's first and largest nonprofit biotech focused 100 percent on ALS research. Led by drug development experts and people with ALS, ALS TDI understands the urgent need to slow and stop this disease.
ALS TDI is recognized as an international leader in preclinical and translational ALS research, and partners with pharmaceutical companies and biotechs around the world. Awarded the highest nonprofit rating – four stars – on Charity Navigator, ALS TDI spends 87 cents of every dollar raised on finding effective treatments and cures for ALS.
About Her ALS Story
A group of women diagnosed with ALS before their 35th birthdays to challenge the stereotype that ALS is an older white man's disease. Her ALS Story fosters an open dialogue about their declining health in female-centric media outlets; cultivates relationships with female lawmakers to improve current insurance and Medicare standards and introduce legislation to speed up the drug pipeline; and raises money for the pursuit of unbiased, supercharged ALS research to ultimately end this devastating disease. Funds raised for Her ALS Story from the Film Fest will go towards supporting their 2023 Warrior Weekend!
About Brainstorm Cell Therapeutics
Brainstorm Cell Therapeutics Inc. is a leading developer of innovative autologous adult stem cell therapeutics for debilitating neurodegenerative diseases with a lead program in ALS.
What is Lou Gehrig's Disease?
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease, is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that attacks motor neurons in the brain and spinal cord. This results in the wasting away of muscle, loss of movement and eventual paralysis. There are an estimated 30,000 people living with ALS in the United States at any given time. Every 90 minutes, someone is diagnosed with ALS.
To learn more about Lou Gehrig and the history of ALS research, click here.