CHRISTINE CHEN - Producer/Director/Writer
DIRECToR'S STATEMENT
On April 20, 1999, I was a freshman in Littleton High School, just 5 miles away from the Columbine High School shooting. Though I was fortunate to not be affected directly, I carry vivid memories of the chain reaction to the event -- from seeing my friend’s Columbine memorial performance to watching every news channel for the next few months play and replay the incident. Naively, I wrote off the experience as a fluke -- an outlier in history that could not possibly repeat itself. Fast forward to 10 years later, after multiple successions of mass shootings from Pulse to Sandy Hook, I could not be more wrong.
These tragedies have become a social norm and we have become desensitized. As a former volunteer EMT/firefighter in Houston, Texas for 4 years, I know this effect all too well. Initially, the first few calls are shocking to the system, but pretty soon the body normalizes to the emotional trauma and numbs itself. Unbegnowst to ourselves, this numbness is a temporary fix for a long term accumulation of problems manifesting themselves in ugly ways, from alcoholism to depression to suicide. In the United States, more first responders die by suicide than in the line of duty each year. The problem is rising.
En Route follows EMT, Randall Clark, who struggles with PTSD after responding to a school mass shooting in his community. When Randall's longtime EMT partner 'Cubano,' uncharacteristically quits, Randall is forced to work with a new station paramedic, Nijah, who is the opposite of Randall in every way. While Randall is numb and closed off to human interaction, Nijah is reckless and craves human connection. Nijah struggles to salvage her relationship with Yamina, her teenage sister who has fallen into depression after the passing of her boyfriend in the shooting. Together, despite polarizing life values and personalities the duo bond over their mutually realized tragedies.
The complicated relationship of Randall and Nijah serves as a microcosmic parallel to the current political climate, split and struggling to coexist. The audience will get to see an authentic representation of First Responder life in the South that mainstream media has yet to see. En Route focuses on the long term ripple effects of a mass casualty incident through the eyes of those directly impacted. The film raises awareness on mental health issues amongst first responders and challenges how we look at and deal with national tragedies. Maybe by reminding people how it feels to be impacted, it will force us to question our humanity and inspire the conversations needed for change. Though history has proven that people from all walks of life can unite in the face of tragedy, what happens when we have become desensitized to the pain?
