Coming to PBS’s America ReFramed tonight, Tuesday, June 28: BURIED ABOVE GROUND
Ben Selkow’s intimate look at PTSD debuted at Woodstock last year. Other screenings have included SF Indie, Cleveland, Fargo, Vail, and several mental health community screenings.
Seeking to expand awareness about the impact of trauma in a variety of forms, Selkow’s film profiles three individuals suffering from PTSD: combat veteran Luis, domestic abuse survivor and addict Erundina, and Hurricane Katrina survivor Ashley. Of these, Luis’ is the most compelling, if familiar, story, and includes the added benefit of focusing on his experiences with a golden retriever service dog. The other two strands are less successful, unfortunately. While Erundina’s story offers the most twists and turns, it could have benefited from expansion, and could easily have taken over all the space allotted to Ashley, whose inclusion feels the least developed or fitting for the film. Still, these additional perspectives do attempt the admiral goal of expanding the audience’s consideration of the range of PTSD sufferers.
what (not) to doc 