Eric Christiansen is on a mission as a filmmaker-documentarian. After losing his home to the 1990 Santa Barbara Painted Cave Fire (one of California's most destructive man-made disasters on record) he devoted his talent, time, resources and energy to creating stunning, powerful accounts of survivors who have had a front-row seat to suffering. His subjects are trauma survivors: those who endured 911, first responders, military veterans, witnesses to mass shootings and others. He explains a basic conflict among his subjects: to keep or discard the mask they wear to conceal the depth of their emotional, physical and spiritual pain from the wider world. His films sensitively show life behind the mask and the healing power of moving from seclusion to inclusion by the retelling of their experiences.

Please visit my webpage at https://www.jancantyphd.com