The Giffords documentary comes when the debate on weapons remains the focal point of the stage

During those two years, documentary filmmakers pondered former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, the most exciting moment for her being in the kitchen of her home in Tucson, Arizona.

As the cameras turned, she and her husband dreamed. Mark Kelly, don’t forget to open the freezer. Kelly pulled out a plastic container and found that it contained a piece of Giffords’ skull that needed to be removed after it was shot.

“He’ll stay here next to the empanads and the chopped mangoes,” Kelly said. Giffords’ response was “Sera, sera,” which refers to the song “Que sera, sera” or “What will, will be.”

The scene from the film is a symbol of Gifford’s openness to reflection, but she did not hesitate to shoot in 2011, which changed his life. This wish is the reason why he left the cameras in his life for two years – all at a time when the pandemic was advancing.

“It’s very important to me to keep going, not to look back,” Giffords told The Associated Press when he was in Los Angeles to promote the film. “I hope others are motivated to move forward, no matter what happens.”

“Gabby Giffords Won’t Back Down” by Oscar-nominated documentary film “RBG” Ruth Bader Ginsburg is part of a closer look at Giffords’ recovery from the January 2011 shooting, which killed six people and injured 13 others. . except for the Tucson supermarket. But the film, which hits theaters on July 15, is also an insider’s look at how he and Kelly go through arms control campaigns and then Senate campaigns. The film could not have been more appropriate during the arms reform discussed by the government, schools and the United States Supreme Court.

“It’s an interesting story about how Gabby came back from an injury that so many people have never survived,” said co-director Betsy West. “After meeting Gabby at Zoom, we saw how well they communicated. And we felt like we could have fun despite the very difficult issue of gun violence.

At the same time, they want to get the right balance of how big the flashback is when shooting.

“It’s a pitfall. That’s something that changed her life, of course, “said Julie Cohen, another film director.” But Gabby is defined at the end of everything she achieved before and after. We want to show this success. ”

The film also misses the mention of Jared Lee Loughner, a gunman in the Tucson shootout. Law enforcement interviews, reporters and a video made by Loughner suggest how he bought a semi-automatic weapon, despite having a mental illness in the past. In 2012, he was sentenced to unconditional life imprisonment. “We don’t want to talk about the shooter, but we also want to explain what happened,” West said. “Gabby and Mark don’t avoid being convicted of enthusiastically asking for life in prison. That’s a very important part of the film.”

Recent mass shootings, including the deaths of 19 students and two teachers in Uvalde, Texas and 10 supermarkets – all black – in Buffalo, New York, have led to gun violence. . The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday passed a law authorizing weapons in New York. The case concerns state law, which makes it difficult for people to obtain permission to carry a weapon away from home. The judges said the requirement violated the second amendment’s right to “hold and carry firearms.”

Also on Thursday, the US Senate quickly approved a bilateral bill on gun violence. Weeks of talks behind closed doors have resulted in an incremental but groundbreaking package in response to mass shootings. The House will vote on Friday.

As after Uvalde, the documentary tells how the arms control debates reached a high fever after 26 children and two teachers were shot dead by a police officer at a school in Newtown, Connecticut. Giffords and other propagandists, including some Newtown parents, have been called “props” by National Rifle Association officials. After spending time with Giffords and others affected by gun violence, the filmmakers say their voices are at the center of the debate.

“To say that Gabby shouldn’t talk about gun violence because she experienced violence? It didn’t really matter,” Cohen said.

A key element of the documentary comes from Kelly’s videos of Giffords at a hospital in Tucson and a rehabilitation facility in Houston. These include former President Barack Obama – who was interviewed in the film – and Michelle Obama’s visit to Giffords’ bed unconscious. It also includes the first months of speech therapy.

The bullet landed on the left side of Giffords’ brain, which serves language skills, and caused him to suffer from aphasia. In the old videos, you can see Giffords crying in frustration when he has trouble reading and doesn’t say “chicken.”

Giffords said watching videos would sadden him, but he was determined to be happy.

“I’m getting better. I’m getting better slowly, but I’m getting better,” Giffords said. Giffords is the third West and Cohen film made by a female icon. Last year, they released “Julia,” a documentary about the influence of television chef and author Julie Child. “RBG” was a critical and commercial hit when it was released four years ago. The filmmakers say that although Giffords and Justice Ginsburg, who died in 2020 at the age of 87, are very different personalities, they think viewers will see a lot in common. Both have strength, perseverance, optimism and are the core of a “feminist love story.”

Giffords should always remind people that he still has his voice, even if it’s not easy to talk – whether it’s about gun safety or other issues. He said he really felt the climate was different now, but people had to be patient because change was “slow” and Washington, DC “very slow.”

It plans to refocus on tougher federal inspections through its Gun Owners for Safety coalition. The bill approved by the Senate will strengthen only the checks of buyers aged 18 to 20.

If there’s one message that viewers want to get from the documentary, it’s “fight, fight, fight every day,” Giffords said.