Synopsis of Abandoned Heroes by David Block (2008)

“Let us care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow, and his orphan.”

– Abraham Lincoln Second Inaugural, March 4, 1865

If Lincoln were alive today, he would be shocked.

Abandoned Heroes, Winner of the 2009 Independent Film Festival of Tampa (Florida) in the category of Best Independent Short Documentary,  documents how certain U.S. veterans return home to a thankless nation. For bravely serving the U.S. when Uncle Sam called, VA doors slammed in their faces. No financial compensation, no jobs offered, no place to live, the U.S. veterans, from Valley Forge to Operation Freedom, were abandoned.

Abandoned Heroes is the story of veterans helping other veterans after organizations that were supposed to help, failed miserably. There is a trailer on Davivid Block's Facebook page.

Check the following link for webcasts

http://iff.bside.com/2009/films/abandonedheroes_iff2009

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Synopsis of Goalball: A Sport for Good Listeners by David Block (1992)

What team sport requires quickness, strength, agility, mental toughness and blind folds? Are you stumped? The sport is called Goalball and blind and visually impaired people play it worldwide.

Goalball: A Sport for Good Listeners is a 17-minute documentary that outlines the sport's origins and the rules of the game. In addition, Goalball players explain how they coped with losing their vision and how they handled the frustration of repeatedly proving to public school teachers and coaches that they can play sports with their fully sighted peers. For many of the athletes, overcoming this obstacle was more challenging than taking part in sports. Many of the Goalball players credit Goalball with  raising their self-esteem.

Synopsis of Portraits of Possibility by David Block (1996)

A gun fires!  Olympic-caliber athletes emerge, competing in a variety of high-profile sporting events: Track, shot put, long jump, swimming and judo. Their athletic ability is awe-inspiring.

In addition, they’re blind and visually impaired. How can a blind person run? How can a blind person swim? What are their capabilities? The athletes and their coaches unveil the answers.  Coaches learn that blind people are more capable than they thought.  The athletes describe some of the training techniques unique to blind sporting events and provide essential background outlining their training methods. For these blind athletes, overcoming discouragement was a tougher challenge than competing in sports.  Their stories are of humiliation, denial, isolation, and low expectations. Sports were a tool to help dispel some negative attitudes other people had toward them. Through competition, these athletes also developed self-confidence.

Portraits of Possibility challenges some of the attitudes we have about blind and visually impaired people.  Given the chance, these athletes can do more than is possible to become champions. They are portraits of possibility.

Synopsis of Brian’s Run by David Block (2002)

On August 26, 1978, Brian Bratcher, a promising fifteen year old football player at West Chester Henderson High, sustained a life-challenging spinal cord injury during a scrimmage and became paralyzed.

The community came up with the idea of organizing a sponsored 10K race as a way of defraying his medical costs and other expenses resulting from his injury. They hoped to get 100 participants for the one-time race, over 2000 showed up for the event. The race committee's goal was to raise $500, but to their amazement, they raised $20,000.

The injured Bratcher was overwhelmed and insisted "Next year, let's do it for someone else."

 Brian’s Run looks at how the injury of a talented athlete has become a source of inspiration for an entire community and created a 30-year tradition in West Chester, Pennsylvania.