This ALS Awareness Month, join us for panel discussions on these incredible ALS films. This series is being hosted by The ALS Therapy Development Institute (ALS TDI) and Her ALS Story. Our emcee for the events will be Sunny of SunnyStrong. Thank you to our incredible sponsor Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma America for supporting this program!

Please note, by registering for the film festival, you will receive weekly email reminders a few hours before the event with login information for each of the panel discussions. We ask that all participants watch the films before the panel to have sufficient background knowledge for the discussion unless noted otherwise.

• After he is diagnosed with ALS, former professional football player Steve Gleason begins making a video diary for his unborn son, as he, his wife, and their friends and family work to raise money for ALS patients as his disease progresses.
• How to Watch: Prime Video is the best way to watch this film!
• Book Pairing: “A Life Impossible” by Steve Gleason with Jeff Duncan
• Panel Discussion: 5/6 6:30 CST
• Panel Participants: Ty Minton-Small, “Gleason” Producer and Cinematographer

• Ady Barkan's life is upended when he is diagnosed with ALS, but a confrontation with a powerful senator catapults him to national fame and ignites a once-in-a-generation political movement.
• How to watch: Hulu streaming is the best way to watch this film!
• Book Pairing: “Eyes to the Wind: A Memoir of Love and Death, Hope and Resistance.” By Ady Barkan
• Panel Discussion: 5/9 6:30 CST
• Panel Participants: Director Nicholas Bruckman

• There are many twists and turns throughout the movie as we learn more about why Jessie is on the run and why Elsa is chasing her. However, there is one particular twist that makes New Life unique – while coordinating the search for Jessie, Elsa is also dealing with a recent diagnosis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
• How to watch: https://amzn.to/3QsKlcy
• Book Pairing: “Pillow Flipping My Way Through ALS” by Summer Whisman
• Panel Discussion: 5/13 7:30 CST
• Panel Participants: Director John Rosman, Lisa Cross-Bonahoom

• 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: https://bit.ly/streamGOBB (proceeds go to the Her ALS Story Annual Retreat!)
• Book Pairing: Hope Fights Back by Andrea Lytle Peet and Meredith Atwood
• Panel Discussion: 5/20 7:30 CST
• Panel Participants: Andrea Lytle Peet, Filmmakers Miriam McSpadden and Brian Beckman

• LUKi and the Lights follows an active, charming, and upbeat robot named LUKi who enjoys hanging with friends. One day after work while playing soccer, LUKi's arm begins to malfunction. After a trip to the doctor, LUKi is diagnosed with ALS.
• How to watch: We will be watching this 11-minute short film together
• Panel Discussion: 5/28 7:30 CST
• Panel Participants: Toby Cochran, Tanner Hockensmith, Dr. Melinda Kavanaugh, and producer Adrian Ochoa

Register to Join the Fight ALS Film Fest

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.

Donate to ALS TDI in honor of the Fight ALS Film Fest

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!

Donate to Her ALS Story in honor of the Fight ALS Film Fest

Learn More About MITSUBISHI TANABE PHARMA AMERICA

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.