IN PERSON: Producer Stacy Schoolfield; Associate Producer Leslie Langee; and NIH panelists: Mayada Akil, M.D. and Ellen Leibenluft, M.D., NIMH.

NIH Science in the Cinema Special Event sponsored by the Office of Science Education, National Institutes of Health and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The event is a special tribute to Dr. Wayne Fenton and his work.

Before the film, Richard Nakamura, Ph.D., Deputy Director, NIMH, will give a tribute to Dr. Fenton and introduce the film. Immediately following Mayada Akil, M.D. and Ellen Leibenluft, M.D., NIMH, will comment on the medical science themes depicted in the film and take questions from the audience.

The Story: Inspired by invincible friendships, junior high journal entries, heart breaking crushes and the complexities of losing loved ones, jumping off bridges follows a carefree, adventurous group of four best friends deep in the trenches of adolescence. Lauded by the Austin Chronicle as "a realistic narrative portrait of love, death, and human debris as anything you're ever likely to see onscreen."

At heart, this story is about the struggle of grief. How each of us deals with grief in our own strange and debilitating ways. How we search for answers at a time when there are none. We get lost beneath our anger and betrayal and flounder for stability and consolation. We seek comfort and solace from the people we push furthest away. It's a story about friendship, a story about strength and a story about finding hope.

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