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After his efforts save people trapped in the Pentagon on 9/11, Isaac Ho'opi'i finds ways to channel his pain and regret in "Corridor Four." (Photo courtesy the filmmakers)
The documentary “Corridor Four” follows Sgt. Isaac Ho’opi’i in the years after he rescued more than 10 people from the Pentagon after the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001.
Stephen Tringali, director, and Maria Bissell, producer, will join the audience following a screening of the film at BowTie Cinemas Movieland on Sunday, April 29, at noon during the Richmond International Film & Music Festival.
The two filmmakers from Los Angeles started the project three years ago, hoping to highlight the hero’s accomplishments.
“We started to realize, even though a lot of these officers received a lot of recognition for what they did, they didn’t necessarily feel good about everything that they accomplished,” Tringali says. “There was a degree of survivor's remorse that they were speaking about, and I started to realize that what the perception was overall was not necessarily the reality of the situation.”
“The story tackles the lasting impacts of trauma, exploring the journey of Ho’opi’i and his fellow officers as they grapple with the misconceptions of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
“I realized that a lot of them were dealing with trauma from the event that hadn’t fully been explored, and then I realized essentially that there’s a lot of misconceptions about the trauma that they were experiencing,” Tringali says. “And that’s I think when we realized that there was a deeper subject that was really worth exploring. So the film kind of pivots halfway through.”
The film was released last October at the Washington West Film Festival, and the couple continues to bring the movie festivals and small screenings to catch the eye of a distributor.
“Having people walk up to you and tell you how important they think your movie is in general and specific to them is really powerful, and the thought that we could actually help empower people to make change is really what I look forward to the most,” Bissell says.
A trailer for "Corridor Four"