ABOUT THE FILM
No Matter What is a film that explores what is possible for a woman facing addiction and incarceration when family love, residential treatment programs, and community connection come together
to build hope for a brighter future.
FEATURING
CASSY
For a long time, I didn’t consider myself worthy of love or forgiveness. I didn’t know the power of unconditional love. I didn’t know I could love myself, no matter what.
The therapeutic community at La Vista prison helped me develop a practice of looking at myself with complete honesty and acceptance. I learned to face my trauma and see myself not just as a product of what happened to me. I am not just a survivor of sexual abuse, an addict, or a person who has been in prison but I am someone who works hard, every day to improve myself. I had to dig deep and give up on the excuses I held onto for so many years.
Then there is the unending, unconditional love I receive from my family — even when I have let them down. I know my recovery depends on my choices and actions, but it also depends a lot on family support. They never gave up on the possibility I would make it through and loved me — no matter what.
MEL
I wanted to be a part of this film because I want to keep supporting Cassy in any way I can. It was hard talking about everything at first. Now that the film is done, I see that making it was such a positive thing for Cass and us; telling her story has been a way to reinforce growth and understanding.
Anyone going through addiction, incarceration, and the justice system - whether personally or as a family member — can learn from this film. You see that loving someone who is living with addiction, or who is in prison is a journey you just can't give up on. No matter what the circumstances, all people hurt, all of us have souls and hearts that need to be cared for. I hope this film can help others who are on this journey.
SHERREE
Being a part of this film has meant that Cassy's story can get out there. It highlights how in a small town, someone living with addiction can automatically be thought of as guilty. That is not the right way to look at the disease, or at the actual issues. The justice system has problems for sure, but it helped Cass, and us. She went to prison but had a unique chance for therapy and we were able to see her so often. Those things made such a difference.
It is difficult for female convicted felons to reestablish themselves. Once out of prison they must make new social connections, reconnect with families and loved ones, and meet all kinds of crazy deadlines and guidelines. Also, they must find housing, employment, and repair relationships. If they don’t have family to support them, or real therapy for their mental health, there’s no way they can make it. I hope this film will show other families who are dealing with similar issues that they all have a chance, as long as that unconditional love is there.
THE FILMMAKERS
GAYLE NOSAL
Executive Producer • Director • Videographer
BERET E. STRONG
Producer • Director • Videographer
JOHN TWEEDY
Editor • Videographer
ZOE LYTTLE
Lead Animator
Since entering the field of documentary filmmaking in 2012, Gayle has directed and produced award-winning films about young women refugees in Uganda, a community living off the grid on a wolf refuge in southern Colorado, and a re-entry program for women and men who were previously incarcerated. She co-founded Needle&Frame, a filmmaking and arts collective that builds solidarity, unites communities and inspires courageous action toward positive social transformation. The most recent project is Stronger than Coffee (Más que un Café), a series of short documentary participatory films written, directed and filmed by smallholder women coffee producers in Costa Rica.
Beret E. Strong, Ph.D., M.F.A., has been making documentary films since 1995 with John Tweedy, with whom she owns Landlocked Films. She has been collaborating with Gayle Nosal and Nee Nee Productions since 2014. Her films have shown on PBS stations across the U.S. and Canada, and won CINE Golden Eagles, the National Association of Film and Digital Media Artists' Insight Award for Excellence, and a nomination for an IDA/ABC News Videosource Award.
Beret's films have screened at many festivals. Her and John Tweedy's most recent film, This is [Not] Who We Are, is about the history of Boulder, Colorado and the experiences of its resilient Black community. Beret is also a researcher, writer, and educator.
John has been directing, producing, and editing films with Beret E. Strong and Landlocked Films since 1995. He directed Streams of Gold, about gold mining in an Ecuadorean valley over a 100-year span, broadcast nationally on Free Speech TV; Penny and Red, about Penny Chenery and the thoroughbred racehorse Secretariat, broadcast on PBS stations nationwide; and edited most of Landlocked Films’ other prize-winning documentaries. His filmography includes work on climate science, law and equity issues, cultural competency, disability, and education. John is also a lawyer, mediator and writer.
Zoe Lyttle (she/they), originally from the Nashville, Tennessee area, is a New York City-based animator and filmmaker. Their debut film, Shots, has made them a student Academy Awards finalist and an international award-winning filmmaker and animator. Currently, they are working as a full-time animator and artist, primarily focusing on educational non-fiction and documentary work. Using the art of animation, they love to focus on real human issues and stories, and they want their work to speak as an extension of what they care about.
To see their work, please visit https://www.ossizoe-art.com/
