Brick, NJ

WOMAN'S STRUGGLE AN OSCAR-WINNING FILM Fight With Cancer - And The County Freeholders - Made National News By Keith Hagarty The emotional battle of late Ocean County Detective Laurel Hester (above) who, while dying of cancer, fought to transfer her pension to her life partner, was captured by filmmaker Cynthia Wade in the movie "Freeheld," which won the Academy Award for "Best Short Documentary." A story of love and justice, one Ocean County woman's battle against the government and time has led to an Academy Award. The acclaimed-documentary "Freeheld" is the story of retired Detective Lieutenant Laurel Hester, of the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office, who after spending 25 years investigating criminal cases was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. Knowing she had less than six months to live, Hester, a lesbian from Point Pleasant, was determined to ensure the future security of her partner, Stacie Andree, by passing on her pension benefits. But things would not go smoothly for Hester. Her efforts to have her pension transferred to Andree were rife with obstacles. Among them was the Ocean County Board of Freeholders' decision to deny Hester's request. Their denial sparked a firestorm of controversy. Her plight gained national media attention and put pressure on the board, which eventually reversed its decision shortly before Hester's death. The Academy Award-winning film "Freeheld" tells Hester's story. "It's a story about love and death and political strife, and all these different elements coming together," said Dane Wells, one of Hester's best friends and former law enforcement partner in the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office. "It's a deeply moving film," he said. "If I had to say one thing about it unquestionably and unequivocally, it would be that it will absolutely have a deep affect on anyone who watches it, regardless of what their personal beliefs might be." The Academy agreed, recently honoring the film as "Best Short Documentary." "There was something profound about the fact that she (Hester) had spent her life pursuing justice, and then in the last year of her life, her final fight for justice was for the person she loved most in the world," said "Freeheld" director Cynthia Wade.  --Photos Courtesy Of Lieutenant Films, Inc. Cynthia Wade At an estimated cost of over $350,000, Wade filmed the documentary over a pressure cooking 10-week period. A filmmaker for over 20 years, Wade directed and shot the five-time award-winning 2003 HBO documentary "Shelter Dogs," and directed and edited the award-winning 1999 Cinemax documentary "Grist For The Mill." Wade was also co-producer/cinematographer for the 1998 PBS documentary "Taken In: The Lives of America's Foster Children," which won a prestigious DuPont Columbia Award for Excellence in Journalism. She has also been director of photography for PBS, HBO/ Cinemax, A&E, Discovery, The History Channel, MTV, AMC, Oxygen and TNT. Wade confesses that her documentaries have always tended to center around controversial subject matter, albeit not consciously, and the central character is more often than not being an independent-minded, strongwilled woman. "There's usually some really strong reaction to my films - some very positive and some negative," she said. "I think it's because I tend to choose polarizing social topics." For Wade, her personal filmmaking style has always focused on the moment, the raw emotional expression found in the here and now. "It's not like a retrospective. It's not like a lot of interviews of people saying what happened," she said. "You're seeing it happen." Wade first became aware of Hester's plight while reading local media reports. "There were many stories about it," she said. "So I just started poking around, and doing additional research." "I was looking around for what could be another film, but I wasn't quite ready to commit," said Wade. Production of the documentary began soon after Wade read about a scheduled freeholder meeting on December 7, 2005, where members of the public were expected to voice their opposition to the freeholder's decision and plead with the governing body to allow Laurel to leave her pension to Stacie. Wade called it "a life-changing day." "I thought, 'well, I don't even know if I can make a film on this, or pursue this, but let me go down to that freeholder meeting with a camera,'" she said. "I went down there with two assistants, some release forms, a backup camera and by the end of that meeting, I was absolutely convinced this was going to be my next film." By the end of the meeting, Wade approached the two women and asked for their permission to tell their story on the big screen. "They said, 'yes, sure, come visit us and we'll be happy to talk with you,'" she said. "That was really the beginning of a journey that got very intense, very quickly." With Hester in an obvious weakened state in the final-stages of her losing battle with cancer, Wade said her heart broke for the two women and the pain they were going through. "The sad part is (at that meeting) she was the healthiest I would ever see her because that was only 10 weeks before she died," she said. "If I have any big regret, it that's I never knew Laurel when she was well, because her career alone would have just made for an amazing documentary." Wells, Hester's longtime colleague, believes the fight against the freeholders' decision paralleled what Hester was all about. "I always considered it our last case together, if you will," Wells said of Hester's cause. "Laurel and I worked on lots of lots of big cases, such as with the mafia and homicides, and things like that. We always worked very hard on them, and in that respect, I sort of felt like it was my last case with Laurel." Chronicling The Struggle Being around Hester and Andree every day to chronicle their moments of struggle, but also those tender moments, was a delicate balance to the filmmaker. "It's an epically challenging, very emotional experience that's fraught with responsibility on the filmmaker, absolutely," she said. "It's enormous, no matter what documentary you walk into, and what story and journey you embark on. To record such private moments and emotional moments in people's lives, I take that very seriously." Walking the fine line between feelings of deep compassion for the subject matter while trying to capture the true essence of the story is always a tough task, said Wade. "It's always difficult," she said. "I think in this case it was particularly difficult because I really became friends with Laurel and Stacie. You are supposed to be- at least in theory and academically- a fly on the wall as a documentary filmmaker and just kind of observe, but definitely as she got sicker, and there was one night in particular that Stacie couldn't get hospice on the phone, she just getting the answering service, I got very upset and put down the camera and started calling hospice myself to try and get someone on the phone. In that way, I definitely crossed the line from filmmaker to friend, but it felt like the right thing to do in that circumstance." Wade's experience as a cameraperson served her well during the filming process, as she was able to film most of the footage herself. A cameraman for "Freeheld" gets up close and personal at a 2005 County Board of Freeholders' meeting. "That really helps, especially when you don't have funding for a film, which we didn't for this," she said. "But in the meetings, I had multiple crew members. We had an additional cameraman, sound guy, etc. But there were many nights I stayed there, where it was just me and my lights and my camera." Throughout the entire process, Wade said Hester knew exactly how she envisioned the film being presented. "I asked Laurel a lot what she wanted the film to look like, and we talk about that a lot on camera," she said. "I wanted to know as much as I could from her while she was still alive what she wanted the film to look like, and I gave Laurel and Stacie a camera so they could film things on their own, which they did, and some of their footage is in the film, and some of it isn't, but will be in the DVD extras." The "Freeheld" DVD is expected to be available in June. The Accolades Begin One of the overriding hurdles for the filmmakers was finding the money to pull it off.   "I didn't get funding until it was done. It was a huge leap of faith." she said. "We were financially in terrible shape while we were finishing." However, the movie’s fate changed by its surprise inclusion in the 2007 Sundance Film Festival.   "I didn't even have money to take it to Sundance. It was really crazy," said Wade. "We put everything on a credit card, and I told my editor and my sound-mix guys that I would figure out how to pay them in the new year, but I really had no idea how I was going to do that." She praised the patience and understanding shown by her crew during the lean times of post-production.   "They were like, 'just get on the plane, and go to Sundance,'" said Wade. "People don't always understand that when you screen (a film) at a festival, it costs the filmmaker money. To have somebody send those out, and FedEx them out, and do the trafficking and the stills and the prints and the press kits, it becomes extremely costly."   The first public screening of “Freeheld” occurred in the early morning hours on the very first day of the acclaimed Sundance film festival.   "There was a funder in the audience at our first Sundance screening—which happened to be 8:30 in the morning on our very first day, and I really thought nobody was going to show up early in the morning," she said, "but within 48 hours, he had texted me and committed money for the film for me to be able to pay back people, and then he opened the door for other funders."   With two young children at home in New York, Wade had to return home earlier than expected. She wasn't even at Sundance when she learned her film had been named the winner of the film festival's special jury prize.   "It was amazing," she said. "I went in with low expectations because a short documentary is truly the lowest on the totem pole at a place like Sundance," she said. "But the programming staff was really supportive, the audiences were very appreciative, and then it was just this incredible surprise."   The film's critical success caught the attention of film festival organizers throughout the United States. It soon earned 11 more awards.   "That was very validating," said Wade. "I don't think the film would've had the same path if we weren't able to do that at Sundance."   Since that time, Wade said she embarked on an exhausting year-long journey of grant-writing, fundraisers and "pounding the pavement to just keep it going and get it out there" as she began the expensive process of transferring the film over to a 35-millimeter format.   With the pain-staking, post-production editing process taking over a year to complete, the accolades the small film has received has been beyond anything Wade could have imagined.   "There's a sense of relief that, wow, this film—the story that's been keeping me awake at nights and burning a hole in my chest, where I can't sleep, I can't think about anything but this film—there's this huge validation where then other people begin to see what you've seen in it all along," she said. Film Wins An Academy Award And then came the Academy Awards. Pulling up in stretch limo outside the glitz and glamour of the Academy Awards in Los Angeles was a surreal experience for Wade, who was joined on the red carpet by producer Vanessa Ross, and Andree, who kept Laurel close to her throughout the night by wearing a small locket of her ashes around her neck. "It truly is like going to a different planet," Wade said of the Oscars. Walking the red carpet was like navigating through a flash-popping media buzz saw, according to Wade, who admittedly was just as awe struck as the most ardent Hollywood fan. "It was crowded and intense," she said. "They don't care too much about documentary filmmakers on the red carpet. I was sandwiched between George Clooney and Jason Bateman." During the ceremony itself, they were seated towards the front of the orchestra section. "It was very interesting just watching people," she said. "It's an expert show, they're really good at putting it on. Just watching everybody, from the roving camera guys, the stage manager, the actors, the dance pieces, it was just much more interesting to watch it in person than I think it is on TV, just to see all the pieces." Wade's fascination soon turned into "shock, terror and excitement" as she watched Tom Hanks announce "Freeheld" as the category's winner and present her with the Oscar. "As I was walking up the steps (to accept the award), Tom Hanks looked down at me and smiled this incredibly genuine smile, and said, 'come on up, kiddo, it's your moment,'" she said. "He was just very generous, very open and just happy for me. He was taking so much pleasure in seeing me so excited." After accepting her award in a flurry of hurried words of appreciation, Wade said she was immediately whisked offstage into a series of frenzied media rooms. "That was the most intense," she said. "I remember about 50 percent of it all, because you're completely dazed." Following the ceremony, the "Freeheld" contingent celebrated at the Governor's Ball, where Andree placed her locket on the table next to the Oscar as they made a champagne toast in Hester's honor. Wade's Oscar is now sitting on a bureau in her bedroom as she awaits the Academyissued nameplate to be sent. However, the biggest surprise for Wade about the classic, gold-plated award itself is its sheer mass. "It's really heavy," she said. "It's nearly nine pounds." With a dedication to the truth, Wade admits she never envisioned the critical-acclaim her work would receive. "If you had told me 10 years ago this was going to happen, I would've never believed you," she said. "Somebody in my high school yearbook wrote 'I can't wait to go into a theater someday and see a film of yours,' and I remember reading that and thinking, 'wow, he thinks a lot of me, but that will never happen.'" Aim Was To Champion A Cause Wells championed Hester's cause from day one, publicly advocating for the women's plight, as well as standing side-by-side during the entire filming process. He said being a heterosexual himself, he hopes everyone who sees the film realizes that gay and lesbian rights is an issue that affects everyone who is simply a human being. "I quite literally lived every moment of the story in real time," said Wells, a Jackson resident, who has since seen the film several times. "It was very difficult, if not impossible, to really take a step back from the story on the screen and describe it as a film. I had such a personal intimate involvement in the story and the making of the film, that it's very difficult for me to describe its impact on me." In lieu of that, Wells said he finds it fascinating to witness the reactions of those who are seeing it for the very first time. "I think that's probably a more accurate way to assess it," he said. "There's certainly no question that any living, breathing human being would be deeply affected by the story and the way that it's told on film." As she neared retirement, Wells said Hester was excited at the idea of writing a book about her life experiences in law enforcement. "I think one of her biggest disappointments when she was diagnosed with the terminal illness was the fact that on the doorstep of retirement and getting ready to write that book, it wasn't going to happen, and it was something she dreamed about all her life," he said. "Shortly thereafter, Cynthia came along and expressed an interest in making the film, and very, very quickly Laurel perceived this film as taking the place of the book she was always going to write." As the film began to take shape, Wells believes Hester caught a second wind of inspiration, despite her worsening health. "It got to the point where Laurel was really planning her daily activities around what she felt needed to be captured on film," said Wells. "It was very, very big- the number one part of her life." With the intention of screening the film for various voting-regions throughout the country for November's presidential election, Wade said spreading the powerful message of the film was a top priority for Hester. "From the beginning, we talked about it being a tool for outreach and education," said Wade. "The goal was never to get an Oscar nomination. The goal was if we could, along the way gather media attention about the plight that same sex couples face around the country, and if we can leverage any media attention that might happen around a potential Oscar-nomination in an election year, it could really help further leverage this long-term strategy towards the election. Real change was always Laurel's goal, and that's what we have to remain committed to." If first-time viewers get anything out of watching the movie, Wells said he hopes people can see that gays and lesbians are no different than anyone else, and deserve to be treated the same as anyone else. "It was never a question of gay rights, it's a question of equal rights," said Wells. "It was and is no different than separate drinking fountains in the 1950s, or a separate seat in the back of the bus based on the color of someone's skin." For Wells, the true impact of the film can best be summed up in a review he recently read. "It's a hard film to watch," he said. "It's a hard film to ignore." More information about "Freeheld" including video footage of Hester speaking about the importance of the film, can be found at www.freeheld.com.