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Filmmaker Charlie Minn Re-Releases "49 Pulses" Five Years After The Shooting

Visitors leave hand made memorials at the site of the Pulse nightclub, July 2016. Photo: Matthew Peddie, WMFE
Visitors leave hand made memorials at the site of the Pulse nightclub, July 2016. Photo: Matthew Peddie, WMFE

Five years after the Pulse nightclub shooting, documentary filmmaker Charlie Minn is re-releasing his film “49 Pulses” at the Fashion Square Mall.

Minn joins Intersection to discuss the re-release and what he hopes to achieve through his storytelling. Joining the conversation to talk about the impact of the documentary is Orlando Torres, who was among the survivors interviewed by Minn.

Minn has made 37 films, many of them focused on violent crime, including “Parkland: Inside Building 12”, about the 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Minn says that he hopes his films can help make a difference while honoring those lost.

“A documentary is an excellent platform to inform, educate, raise awareness for change, to remind people of what happened,” he says.

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Charlie Minn. Photo: Matthew Peddie. WMFE[/caption]

Minn says he tries to approach his interviews with survivors and victims’ families with sensitivity.

“You have to show the utmost respect,” Minn says. “You have to be very sensitive to their feelings, show tremendous empathy, understand what they went through and what they're still going through.”

Torres is among the survivors that Minn interviewed in “49 Pulses.” He says that he feels a responsibility to share his story, to give a voice for those who lost their lives, and survivors who aren’t comfortable speaking out.

“God gave me that second chance in life and the very close friends that I’ve lost are not here to voice, so I took it upon myself to represent and be the voice,” Torres says.

“The first time I saw [the documentary], it was emotional for me to see,” he says. “And then, hearing, because I wasn’t there to see the interviews of the other survivors, and being at the theater, seeing their stories, it was heartfelt and sad to hear what they went through besides my story.”

Torres says he plans to see the film again and hopes to bring friends who have not seen it to spread awareness of the survivor’s stories.

As the Orlando community honors the lives lost in a week of remembrance leading up to June 12,“49 Pulses” will be shown at Premiere Cinemas at Fashion Square Mall this Friday, at 5:30pm and 7:25pm.

Watch the trailer here: