For Immediate Release: November 10, 2009
 

 

(Albuquerque, NM) – Christopher Productions and The Cody Unser First Step Foundation are proud to announce that the documentary entitled, “CODY; The First Step” has been accepted at numerous film festivals nationwide. The film has been Accepted at the following festivals:

At the Orlando International Film Festival the film garnered the “Special Jury Prize Most Inspirational” award. At the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival the film won the “Spirit of Independents Award.”

 

Executive Producer, Chris Schueler said, “The emotional response viewers have had to the film has been gratifying. To see the film receive the recent film festival awards validates Cody’s brave decision to share her story on camera. I am hopeful that the film will continue to gain attention because Cody’s story is so powerful.”

 

CODY is a powerful documentary that charts the extraordinary story of Cody Unser who was tragically struck with Transverse Myelitis at the age of 12. The disease left her paralyzed from the chest down. However, she refused to let that diagnosis define her and instead at age 13 founded the Cody Unser First Step Foundation to ensure that money would be raised to find a cure. For the last five years Cody has lobbied state legislatures and Congress to push for stem-cell research which offers the key to her own recovery. During the film, Cody shares with the viewers her determination to walk again. The film takes the viewers on an intimate journey with Cody detailing her daily emotional and physical struggles. The film also charts where science and politics intersect.

 

Cody Unser said, “I hope my story will shed some light on what it is really like to live with paralysis. I also hope that the film will lead to more research dollars so that paralysis—not just for me, but for all people, will become a treatable and reversible diagnosis. “