Heidi Reavis
Filmmakers
Director: Mary Olive Smith
Executive Producer/Producer: Steven M. Engel
Executive Producer: Heidi Reavis
Senior Executive Producer: Paula Apsell
Producer: Mary Olive Smith
Co-Producer: Allison Shigo
Produced and Distributed by Engel Entertainment
Music: David Schommer
Awards & Accolades
Best Feature Documentary Film of The Year – International Documentary Association
Emmy Award-Winner, Outstanding Informational Programming (Long Form)
Golden Gate Award Winner for Best Documentary Feature – San Francisco International Film Festival
People’s Choice Award for Best Documentary – Denver Film Festival
Interfaith Award – St. Louis International Film Festival
Audience Choice Award for Best Documentary – St. Louis International Film Festival
Human Rights Award Winner – Barcelona Docupolis
Press
“A Walk to Beautiful will leave you speechless two times over — first with despair, then with joy. Neither unmentionable subject matter nor nonexistent commercial prospects can keep this documentary from having a power over your heart that is unparalleled.”
– Los Angeles Times (Kenneth Turan)
“Competently made, precisely shot, and buoyantly humanistic”
– Variety
“A complex and quietly devastating indictment of chauvinist societies that see women as lovers, mothers and servants, and treat anyone who can’t fulfill those roles as a nonperson.”
– The New York Times (Matt Zoller Seitz)
A Walk to Beautiful tells the story of five women in Ethiopia suffering from devastating childbirth injuries. Rejected by their husbands and ostracized by their communities, these women are left to spend the rest of their lives in loneliness and shame.
We follow each of these women on their journey to a special hospital in Addis Ababa where they find solace for the first time in years, and we stay with them as their lives begin to change. Through the intimate experiences all five share, we are no longer in the heart of Africa – we are in the hearts of these women. The trials they endure and their attempts to rebuild their lives tell a universal story of hope, courage, and transformation.
