‘With You’ Documentary About United Flight 93 Gay Hero Mark Bingham

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By

GUS

– July 14, 2011Posted in: QUEER CINEMA

‘With You’ is a feature length documentary focusing on the unique bond between a mother and son and how it was ultimately strengthened by the tragedy of 9/11. The film explores the lives of Mark Bingham, one of the heroes of United Flight 93 on September 11, 2001, and his mother, Alice Hoagland, a former United Airlines flight attendant. Devastated by her loss but inspired by the memory of her son, Alice becomes a nationally known authority on airline safety and a champion of LGBT rights across the country. Within the shadow of a national tragedy, With You illuminates a personal story of love, loss and the true nature of heroism

WITH YOU preview cut withyoufilm.com from With You on Vimeo.

SYNOPSIS

As an aspiring filmmaker growing up, Mark used his video camera as a form of personal expression, teenage rebellion, and as a diary capturing daring, hilarious and intimate moments of his life with his wide circle of family and friends. Mark left behind hundreds of hours of video documenting the final decade and a half of his life, from his teenage years until weeks before he died. This personal archive has allowed the filmmakers to weave remarkably personal images captured by Mark’s own lens into the fabric of the film.

More than nine years in the making, With You shows Mark developing from a gawky teenager into a self-assured leader, demonstrating a fearlessness and disregard for danger that often amazed his family and friends. A rugby player in high school, at the University of California, Berkeley and then with the San Francisco Fog, Mark applied the knowledge and character he acquired from the sport to challenges in his life, including coming out as a gay man to his family and friends in his early 20s.

Mark’s mother, Alice Hoagland, along with Mark’s high school and college friends, former partners, family members, and his “gay parents” reminisce about Mark throughout the film, tracing their interactions with him up until the day he boarded United Flight 93 on September 11. With wrenching clarity, loved ones recall the last moments they saw or spoke with him. Alice heartbreakingly recounts the phone call she received from Mark from aboard the hijacked plane, their final conversation and her last desperate advice to him.

After Mark’s death, the film follows Alice’s journey to rebuild her life in the aftermath of 9/11. Devastated by her loss but inspired by the memory of her son, Alice becomes a nationally known authority on airline safety, a champion of equal rights for all and a heroine to countless LGBT sons and daughters across the country.

Within the shadow of public tragedy, With You is an intimate portrait of how a son’s heroism can inspire a nation, and how a mother’s love can turn unfathomable loss into unshakable resolve.

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