'Everything OK' at Aarhus Gallery


BELFAST (Nov 11): Aarhus Gallery presents filmmaker Patrick O'Brien's "Everything Will Be Okay," a series of excerpts from his upcoming documentary film "October 5, 1974," at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov 14.



At age 30, O'Brien was diagnosed May 24, 2005, with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease), a fatal and incurable disease that results in the progressive degeneration of the nerves and muscles responsible for voluntary movement.






The devastating news did not put a halt to this artist's incredible spirit or productivity.

"Over the course of 2006 and 2007, I will document my journey with ALS on 35mm motion picture film. This challenge has given me a focal point to channel my energies, and will hopefully inspire others to keep moving through their own adversities," he said. "At this point in my life my intention is to be at peace with myself, and to pursue my life's work of making a feature film about something which reaches for the truth. All of my adult life, I have been making films — films about unconventional characters, stories about vulnerable souls.

"Now, in the last years of my life, the film I am making, the character I tried so hard to write all these years, the story which eluded me on paper, is unfolding across my body, inside my nervous system, and in front of my eyes. I have become the character in the film which I have been striving to bring to the screen all these years."

A fund-raising party will be held after the film. Donations of any amount will be welcome. All proceeds from this event will go to the Patrick O'Brien Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to funding ALS research and artists working creatively to raise awareness. For more information, visit patrickobrienfoundation.org


VillageSoup/Waldo County Citizen Editor Beth Staples can be reached at 207-338-0484 or by e-mail at bstaples@villagesoup.com.

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