‘Broken & Beautiful’ by Wavecrest Films featured at LA film festival
“Broken & Beautiful,” a new short documentary produced and directed by Wavecrest Films, chronicles the journey of Sandy and Lonnie Phillips, whose lives were shattered by the shooting death of their daughter and then rebuilt stronger than ever over the period of a dozen years.
The documentary uses the metaphor of kintsugi, the Japanese art of repairing broken items with gold to create something even more beautiful and resilient. Both in life and art, kintsugi teaches that brokenness is not the end, but rather an opportunity to rebuild with strength, beauty, and meaning.
Notes Wavecrest Films filmmaker Julie Bayer Salzman, “‘Broken & Beautiful’ offers hope to anyone suffering from loss. We made this film for people who are having difficulty navigating grief, to show how a mindfulness practice can help people once again find beauty in the world after devastating loss.”
Salzman adds, “We have one mission: to create content that makes a positive social impact,” noting that she thought of Sandy and Lonnie when wanting to move forward on a grief short documentary, the latest in a series of Wavecrest films. “Sandy has this way of articulating her experiences. She’s super honest and forthcoming with feelings and information.”
True to the practice of mindfulness, the film keeps it simple while exploring deep feelings and topics. “Strip off all layers of chatter, then get to important points of repair,” Salzman emphasizes.
Perfect metaphor for Sandy’s and Lonnie’s lives and loss
Sandy Phillips, co-founder of Survivors Empowered with husband Lonnie, describes her life before and after the devastating loss of her daughter, Jessi, in the 2012 Aurora, CO shooting: “My life before Jessi was killed was so fulfilling. I had a wonderful career in tourism. I had two children that I adored and who were doing well in their lives. I had a wonderful marriage and a wonderful husband, and then everything blew up one night in a theater in Aurora, Colorado..”
She adds, “When something like that happens to an individual, you are so broken and don’t know where to begin to start putting those pieces back together. There’s been an explosion of sorts and so you’ve got a piece of you over here and a piece of you over here and you don’t know how or if it’s going to come back together and what it’s going to look like if it comes back together.”
“In our society, we think of brokenness as being weak. Brokenness and weakness are two different things. As you start putting yourself together again, you find out you’re stronger than you ever thought you were. You find out that if you choose you can be kinder than you ever were. You find that you are more compassionate than you ever were. This is all done just by simply being aware how you want to be and why you want to be that way,” Sandy elaborates.
Mindfulness key to building back stronger
In the film, Sandy Phillips describes mindfulness, a relaxing meditative state using a couple of simple techniques that anyone can do. She explains, “Get into a comfortable position sitting or lying down and take three deep and strong breaths fully in and out. The mindfulness practice has really given me a lifeline, being able to slow everything down, pause, and take those breaths. Lonnie and I have learned that whatever happens in life, it’s the here and now that you have. The past is gone. You don’t have the future.”
As the couple recovered from the tragedy and rediscovered joy in their lives, they decided to help others traumatized by gun violence. Through their non-profit, Survivors Empowered, they have held multiple retreats for gun violence survivors. Notes Sandy Phillips, “They can learn mindfulness and discuss and process their grief. They can hear about other choices and other things that are available to them that they might not be aware of, such as a toolkit that we co-developed with Gabby Giffords and our website that is full of helpful information.”
As thought leaders, the couple has been interviewed by numerous national and regional media over the years. The organization has become an influential force in the gun violence prevention industry and legislative efforts. “We helped repeal a really bad law in Colorado that shielded firearm manufacturers from legal liability, and have spent many hours on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC trying to do the same at the national level. Reports of senseless gun violence can seriously set back the recovery of gun violence survivors. We are doing everything we can to lessen frequency by letting the firearm industry know there are serious repercussions for irresponsible practices and behaviors,” she notes.
Sandy Phillips concludes that with time and consistent effort, it’s possible to take lives “shattered into itty bitty pieces” by acts of gun violence and build them back stronger than ever. “You never stop caring or grieving. You never stop remembering. But, you can find joy and fulfillment in ways you would never have imagined.”
Kintsugi keys to recovery and building back stronger than ever:
- Acknowledge instead of suppressing the pain—analogous to how the cracks in pottery aren’t hidden but highlighted;
- Find new paths—just as the gold in kintsugi symbolizes new ways to honor a loved one’s legacy and move forward meaningfully through community work, advocacy, and other purposeful contributions;
- Repair requires care and patience—both in kintsugi and life. Gun violence survivors can rebuild with ample care, support of others, and willingness to accept that it will be a long, winding road to recovery;
- Tell a story of endurance—repaired items become a testament to survival, with cracks telling a story of endurance and serving as an inspiration to others.