Living for 32: Virginia Tech, Gun Shows & Mass Shootings in America (2010)

0

To help provide context for America's mass shooting crisis, Video Project is offering the Sundance-award winning documentary Living for 32 for free online streaming (get a classroom or community screening license here). Unfortunately, the issues presented in Living for 32 remain unaddressed, giving this film continued relevance. 

On a snowy April day at Virginia Tech in 2007, 32 students and faculty were shot and killed by a lone gunman, 17 others were wounded, and six more were injured jumping out of windows.

Through the personal story of survivor Colin Goddard, Living for 32 tells the tragic tale of one of the worst gun massacres in recent American history, along with Goddard’s inspirational journey of renewal and hope. The then-21-year-old was shot four times and told he might never walk again. He lives today with three bullets still lodged in his body and a titanium rod in his left leg.

Goddard revisits his former classroom for the first time in the film, and emotionally recounts the terror of that day. After recovering from his wounds and completing physical therapy, he made it his life’s mission to help ensure that a tragedy like the Virginia Tech massacre would never happen again.

The film couples footage of Goddard at Tech with several trips he made to gun shows across America. With the help of a hidden camera, he documents how easy it is for anyone to purchase a gun, with no ID or Brady background check, and just a handful of cash.

Living for 32 vividly portrays the reality of the Virginia Tech shootings and raises important questions about the effectiveness of current gun laws and other efforts to curb gun violence in America.

Trending Videos
Gaza Fights For Freedom | Directed by Abby Martin (2019)
84 min - This debut feature film by journalist Abby Martin began while reporting in Palestine, where she was denied entry into Gaza by the Israeli government on the accusation she was a “propagandist.” So...
I've Never Seen the Israel / Palestine Conflict Illustrated More Uniquely Than This
3 min - The story shared by Israel and Palestine has been told in several stunning films, but I don't think I've ever seen it told like this. Nina Paley created this (extremely brief) animated history of...
Harambe (2023) ($5)
72 min - Harambe’s death shattered the illusion of safety within the walls of captivity. After a toddler fell into his enclosure 7 years ago, through no fault of his own, Harambe was met with a single shot...
Sicko (2007)
123 min - The words "health care" and "comedy" aren't usually found in the same sentence, but in Academy Award winning filmmaker Michael Moore's new movie 'SiCKO,' they go together hand in (rubber)...
Personal Change Is Good, Collective Organizing Is Better
Can Humanity Find Harmony with Itself, the Earth? Here are 22 Films That Say Yes.
The Invention of the White Race
*Recommended*

Donate to Support Films For Action 

For $5 a month, you'll gain access to over 50 of our favorite world-changing documentaries while keeping us ad-free and financially independent.

Subscribe here | Explore the films

Your support helps grow our 5000+ video library, which is 99% free thanks to our patrons!

 

We're a People-Powered Library 

Sign up to add a documentary or video to our library and we'll help promote it. Half of our best content was added by members. Submissions just need to be embeddable (like from Youtube or Vimeo), and related to changing the world. 

We'd love you to become a regular contributor! Cheers,
The Films For Action team