While honing my acting skills in class, I was inspired by a teacher I was studying with, who gave us a call-to-action: we all have a story to tell...so tell it!

I had always written my story about how I started using heroin in many different forms; from a stream of consciousness to a play, a screenplay, and even a short story, but I always stopped at the same place. I was never able to see the ending.

After receiving the call-to-action, I woke up the next day and started to write. The story just flowed out of my pen, I couldn't keep up -- I couldn't write fast enough. The story that was flowing was not about my active addiction, but about my first year clean in recovery. I realized that was the most difficult time for me:  a time I had to face the truth of what my life had become without a drug to hide behind.

I also found that family and friends didn't want to talk about it and acted as if nothing had happened. There was an unspoken expectation that, because I was not using, everything was “fine”.

I felt like a turtle without a shell -- raw and emotionally exposed. This was the story I wanted to tell in the film, Grace. Anyone can watch a film and learn how to shoot a bag of dope or smoke a crack pipe. I wanted to tell a story of hope and recovery and bridge a gap between addicts and non-addicts to start that conversation of recovery. There is something to be said about how we can all be a little more compassionate for one’s struggles to overcome against all odds.

If I can reach one person with this film, I feel my job of being of service is complete.

Thank You for your time and your generosity of spirit!

Enjoy,

Marisa Vitali

www.grace-the-movie.com

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