Free Screening of Local Director's New Movie

Local residents are invited to a free screening and discussion of the feature-length documentary The Waiting Room on Sunday, July 22, at 7 p.m. at , 400 Highland Ave.

Emmy Award-winning producer-director Peter Nicks, a Piedmont resident, will be on hand for the screening. Nicks has produced projects for network, cable and public television exploring topics such as immigration, journalism and technology. He worked as a staff producer for ABC News in New York and as a producer for the innovative PBS documentary series Life 360.

The Waiting Room is a feature-length immersive documentary that uses unprecedented access to go behind the doors of Oakland’s Highland Hospital.

Stretched to the breaking point, Highland is the primary care facility for 250,000 patients of nearly every nationality, race, and religion, with 250 patients — most of them uninsured — crowding its emergency room every day.

Using a blend of cinema verité and characters’ voiceover, the film offers a raw, intimate and often uplifting look at how patients, staff and caregivers cope with disease, bureaucracy, frustration, hope and hard choices during one typically hec­tic day.

For more information, contact Rev. Don Ashburn at 547-5700 or go to http://www.whatruwaitingfor.com/.