'Freeheld' nominated for best documentary
On gay couple's fight for pension rights
By ELEANOR O'SULLIVAN
MOVIE WRITER
"Freeheld,'' a documentary about a terminally ill Ocean County
investigator's fight to transfer her pension to her domestic
partner, is in the running for an Oscar.
The 38-minute film about the late Detective Lt. Laurel Hester of the
county Prosecutor's Office was nominated Tuesday for an Academy
Award for best documentary short subject.
Bolstered by national media attention and an advocacy campaign,
Hester succeeded in getting the county Board of Freeholders to grant
her pension to her partner, Stacie Andree. Hester died of brain
cancer at age 49 in February 2006.
Cynthia Wade, the director of the film, said Tuesday from the
Sundance Film Festival in Utah, where "Freeheld'' debuted last year,
that she had not expected to make the film that eventually was
completed. But, she said, as soon as she met Hester, she knew she
had to make the film. Wade temporarily left her two children and
husband in New York City to live part-time with Hester and Andree in
Point Pleasant.
"Cynthia deserves every bit of credit,'' Andree said Tuesday night.
She repeated that she has mixed feelings about the documentary and
the nomination.
"It's exciting. I know I'll never meet someone else who will say
they were part of an Oscar-nominated film,'' Andree
said. "Unfortunately, part of it is about the passing of my wife.
"It's certainly a learning tool,'' she said, ""and with the
presidential election coming, it's a controversial issue I hope is
discussed.''
Wade said: "Now my older daughter is in second grade, and she will
tell you that all couples, gay or straight, should be granted the
same rights.
"This became a family project
with one family showing support for
another,'' Wade said.
Hester, who had spent 25 years investigating tough cases in Ocean
County, is seen at home in her last weeks of life as she and Andree
refused to back down when the freeholders denied her request to
leave her pension to Andree.
"Twenty-four years is a long time in the closet,'' Hester said as
the controversy gained national attention. "And were it not for this
set of particular circumstances, I would not have to be here to
announce my sexuality because, frankly, it's nobody's business.''
At the time, she said that her concern for the plight of other same-
sex couples everywhere led her on a quest that not only ended her
years in the closet, but put her in the center of an intense media
spotlight.
Andree, an auto mechanic, had been Hester's partner for six years.
Confronting Hester's impending death and the struggle for pension
rights moved her to take a public stand.
In chronological fashion, the film follows both the escalation of
Hester's battle with the freeholders and the decline of her health.
Media attention and an advocacy campaign helped Hester win her case.
"Freeheld'' also captures the deep love between Hester and Andree as
they faced the reality of losing each other. The film shows public
demonstrations at the county courthouse in Toms River as well as
quiet, tender moments between the couple at home.
"Freeheld'' has won numerous awards so far, including the special
jury prize at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival.
The Academy Awards will be announced Feb. 24.
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