Life After You Screening on May 2 – Raising Awareness About the Drug Crisis
The award-winning feature film Life After You will have a special screening at 7 p.m. Tuesday, May 2, to raise awareness about the dangers of a drug epidemic that continues to claim too many lives. With the prevalence of the powerful fentanyl in many street drugs, one pill, one time can mean death.
Life After You, a production of Cardinal Flix, Inc. was inspired by the true story of 19 year-old Danny Lajterman who died after ingesting heroin that was laced with fentanyl. The film won numerous awards at film festivals around the world, including for the film, its director, Sarah W. Schwab, and its lead actor, Florencia Lozano, who plays Danny’s mother, Linda. Sarah and Florencia, along with two of the film’s producers, Brian Long, and Charlene Giannetti, editor of Woman Around Town, will be at the May 2 event.
Following the screening, to be held at the Church of St. Thomas More, 65 East 89th Street, there will be a discussion with three experts who are on the front lines battling this crisis. They include:
Rachel Chernick, a Vice President of Family Services and Evaluation Research at the Partnership to End Addiction. The Partnership is a national non-profit organization dedicated to supporting family members of those struggling with substance use. Rachel is a licensed clinical social worker with a PhD in Social Welfare. She has many years of experience in direct service work, program leadership, and research and evaluation. In her current role at the Partnership, she oversees the evaluation and research of the organization’s suite of direct services including a national helpline, peer coaching and automated messaging support.
Rashida Sanchez is the Outreach and Engagement Manager and a Sibling Group Facilitator for COPE, a nonprofit grief and healing organization which provides support for parents, siblings, young adults and children living with loss across the grief spectrum. She is a licensed Social Worker and certified Fellow of Thanatology through the Association of Death Education and Counseling. As a first-generation Haitian American, Rashida is passionate about viewing grief from immigrant and social justice perspectives. Her research incorporates the experiences of children and adolescents, immigrant populations, and faith communities. She recognizes the importance of creating a supportive environment that allows grievers to feel validated and accepted.
Dr. Ella Leers is a native New Yorker who attended Tel Aviv University for her medical degree and completed her residency in Family Medicine at Montefiore Hospital in the Bronx. Dr. Leers has been working in the field of addiction since 2006 and got her board certification in Addiction Medicine in 2017 so she is currently dual board certified in Addiction and Family Medicine. Dr. Leers is currently Medical Director at Carnegie Hill Institute, an addiction program on the Upper East Side and she is a Medical Director at One Medical where she sees patients for primary care. She has extensive experience in treating opiate use disorder in addition to most other addictive substances.
Life After You‘s producers are committed to saving lives by holding these screenings where communities can come together to learn more about what they can do to help. If you would like to help fund this effort, you can make a tax-deductible contribution through the Film Collaborative.
Learn more about the film on the website, www.lifeafteryoumovie.com. Email questions abut the screening to WATExplorer@gmail.com.
Top photo: Florencia Lozano as Linda Lajterman and Jake Lozano as Danny Lajterman. Photo courtesy of Cardinal Flix, Inc.