The Way We Get By

• Community Screenings

COMMUNITY SCREENINGS

If you are interested in organizing a community screening of The Way We Get By in your city or town please contact:

LIBRARY DVD KITS

The award-winning documentary is now available to libraries. Get a copy so your library patrons can enjoy a heartwarming and uplifting film with their families. The DVD comes with a 26-page discussion guide and library public performance license for just $99 plus S&H. Order the DVD HERE.

LIBRARY REVIEWS OF "THE WAY WE GET BY"...

Booklist Review:

Booklist Online Exclusive: August 30, 2010
The Way We Get By
July 2010. Sunny Side Up, DVD, $99.00.

This poignant and poetic video touches on the subjects of "aging, loneliness, war, and mortality." In cinéma vérité style, the video introduces three elderly military troop greeters, all of whom volunteer at a small airport in Maine. The trio (Joan, Bill, and Jerry) have gut-wrenching personal stories to tell and the thread that binds them together is the gift of joy they receive by greeting departing and arriving military troops. Each greeter's personal story intertwines with footage of the trio at all hours of the day and night. Their volunteer work is a two-way street-appreciation from returning troops is evident everywhere! Production values are high with excellent color, sound, and good balance between on-screen conversations and simple but appropriate background music. Although lengthy, this winning program should find readymade audiences among military personnel and their families and in retirement homes and college classrooms. - James Scholtz

Library Journal Review:

The Way We Get By color. 84+ min. Aron Gaudet, Made in assoc. with American Documentary/P.O.V., dist. by Dungby Prods., 232 3d St., #B403, Brooklyn, NY 11215; www.thewaywegetbymovie.com. 2009. DVD UPC 8-84501-20444-6. $99 + $2 s/h. Public performance. SOC SCI

On one level, this documentary is about showing appreciation for our troops, but its deeper story is about coping with old age. Writer-director Gaudet followed his 76-year-old mother, Joan, and her two elderly friends, Bill and Jerry, as they greeted troops in transit to and from the Middle East at the airport in Bangor, ME. There are scenes of the three offering snacks, free phone calls, and their friendship. By the end of the film, they tallied 900,000 personnel encountered. The film also shows how through their efforts the trio find renewed purpose in their own lives. Bill is battling cancer and is in the process of moving from his longtime home. Jerry has heart trouble and has to have his old dog put down. Joan frets over two of her grandchildren going to serve in Iraq. All three are open about coping with loneliness, loss, and the limitations of age. This personally revealing and touching film is essential viewing for anyone wanting to understand what it is to be human. - Lawrence R. Maxted, Gannon Univ. Lib., Erie, PA