PITTSBURGH, PA--During a Q and A session following a special screening of the feature film “Superior,” Director Edd Benda pointed out that the film, which had its Pittsburgh premiere at a Sudden Cardiac Arrest Foundation fundraising event, featured only one death scene—a mountain man suffers a cardiac arrest. Benda’s father, North Hills resident Bruce Benda, is a survivor of cardiac arrest so the irony was not lost on the audience of more than 60 moviegoers comprised of many survivors and their families.
As to the film itself, the low budget Indie was a polished, well-acted depiction of two recent high school grads from Michigan’s Upper Peninsula on a late summer bicycle trip around Lake Superior before they move on with their lives. Set in 1969 at the height of the Viet Nam war, one of the pair, Charlie, played by Thatcher Robinson, is headed for college and a student deferment from the draft while the other, Derek, portrayed by stand-up comic Paul Stanko, has no plan for the next phase of his life. Derek is aware of the probability of being drafted into the fray, the prospect of which appeals to his straight-laced, postal worker father who treats his son to a litany of his shortcomings every night at dinner.
Although the main characters will be familiar to any moviegoer, Benda has coaxed more than credible performances out of the talented unknowns. Both are convincing as angst-ridden teenagers facing their first dose of a real world full of opportunities and pitfalls during a troubled time in our nation’s history. Visually, the movie showcased beautiful images of the lake called Gitchee Gumee and the surrounding wilderness as the boys travel first in the U.S. and later on the Canadian side of the lake, encountering characters and situations they never imagined existed in the familiar environs of their little hometown in Michigan’s remote Upper Peninsula.
As writer, director and producer, Edd Benda also captured the tone and mood of the times. As a first-hand observer of that period, I can attest to the fact that Benda, aided by the two family members who actually embarked on the same journey portrayed in the movie, captured much of the feeling of a tumultuous time well before his birth.
Prior to the screening of “Superior,” KDKA TV news anchor, SCA survivor and National Spokesperson for the Sudden Cardiac Arrest Foundation, Susan Koeppen, introduced Bruce Benda. He detailed his SCA experience, noting “It can happen to anybody,” and pointing out that only 38% of cardiac arrest victims make it to the hospital alive and of that number only 10% survive.
Bruce then introduced the big screen debut of another film, this one a three-minute video produced by the Sudden Cardiac Arrest Foundation that conveyed a clear message: Together We Can Save More Lives. The short film is aimed at increasing awareness that SCA doesn’t have to mean the end of a life. Several survivors (including a man who suffered his cardiac arrest at the tender age of 21) and their loved ones expressed their gratitude that someone nearby had the skill and presence of mind to administer CPR or call for a defibrillator. The message was clear: Encourage schools, government and civic organizations to offer classes in CPR and defibrillator use so that more people are prepared to save a life.
By A.J. Caliendo, SCA survivor and former theater critic for the Pittsburgh Post Gazette
Click here for additional photos from the event.