Flagstaff Premiere: 'The God Committee'

The Sedona International Film Festival is proud to present the Flagstaff premiere of the acclaimed new drama “The God Committee” on Wednesday, July 14 as part of the festival’s monthly Flagstaff Cinema Series. There will be one screening of the film at 7:00 p.m. at Harkins Flagstaff 16 Theatres.

An official selection of the Tribeca Film Festival, “The God Committee” is a timely medical drama starring Kelsey Grammer, Julia Stiles, Colman Domingo, Janeane Garofalo and Dan Hedaya.

An organ transplant committee has one hour to decide which of three patients deserves a life- saving heart. Seven years later, the committee members struggle with the consequences of that fateful decision.

On a winter morning in 2014, a donor heart arrives at a New York hospital. The recipient unexpectedly dies on the operating table, forcing an organ transplant committee to convene with one hour to decide which of three other patients deserves the life-saving heart. God's work is now left in the hands of a team of doctors, including: Boxer (Kelsey Grammer), a cynical but brilliant heart surgeon; Jordan (Julia Stiles), an idealistic up-and-comer; and Gilroy (Janeane Garofalo), a weary bureaucrat. As the debate over the heart heats up, medicine, money and morality clash.

The story moves to the present day. Boxer, now heading a biotech startup, is on the verge of developing a revolutionary technology that could solve the worldwide organ shortage. At the same time, he can’t shake the memory of that winter morning seven years earlier. The fate of that one heart weighs heavily on him because — as Boxer begins to understand — it is inextricably linked to his own fate.

“The worldwide organ shortage continues to devastate families from all walks of life,” said writer/director Austin Stark. “I feel honored to be working with such an incredible ensemble –- anchored by Kelsey, Julia, Colman, Janeane and Dan – in my quest to humanize the transplant system and bring faces to the statistics.”

This Flagstaff Cinema Series Event is made possible by a grant from the Arizona Community Foundation of Flagstaff.

“The God Committee” will be shown at Harkins Flagstaff 16 Theatres on Wednesday, July 14 at 7:00 p.m. Tickets are $12, or $9 for Film Festival members ($10 for full-time students), and will be available starting at 6:00 p.m. that day in the Harkins lobby. Tickets can be purchased in advance by calling 928-282-1177 or online at www.SedonaFilmFestival.org.