AFF: Sole Survivor

One would think living through a plane crash would be enough suffering to last a lifetime, however the torment seems to go on forever. Austin Film Festival’s documentary Sole Survivor explores stories from lone survivors of commercial plane crashes and the struggle to pick up the pieces after the accident.

In the history of aviation, there have been only 14 of these ‘sole survivors’, and whether their fate was miraculous or cursed is for the audience to decide. George Lamson, the only survivor of a 1985 plane crash that took the lives 70 passengers including Lamson’s father, drives the documentary as the seasoned survivor whose demons have eased little, if any, in the past 26 years. A teenager at the time of the crash, Lamson stresses the void left by media attention and pressure of being branded a ‘miracle survivor’ at such a young age.

Weaving together the stories of some of these survivors, Sole Survivor director, Ky Dickens, allows her audience to nearly understand the torture of these unlucky few while lightly shaming the media’s hyper attention on these young victims. Dickens’ cohesive story unites these victims’ experiences without blurring distinct perspectives of the different survivors.

The audience of the Saturday screening included actress Susan Sarandon who enthusiastically praised the film. In Austin for a Film Festival panel, Sarandon attended this smaller screening and, like much of the audience, found it to be a valuable inclusion to the festival’s line-up.

Walking out of the I-max, many film festival attendees could be heard discussing their new found empathy for these rare survivors afflicted with exceptional pain. And although guilt, anger, fear and loss are all sicknesses that haunt these sole survivors, this documentary shows how people can always find a glimmer of hope.