April 1, 2008, 9:00 - 10:00 PM
Northern California broadcast premiere of “Rolling.”
Santa Rosa Central Library— directions
Saturday, April 5— “Rolling” 2:00 p.m. with guest Galen Buckwalter.
Oakland Public Library, Rockridge Branch— directions
Saturday, April 12— 1:30 p.m.
There is no charge to attend these screenings.
ROLLING views the world from the seat of a wheelchair, a place where getting dressed, opening a door or navigating a sidewalk often requires significant time and effort. 
Compelling video diaries recorded over a two-year period capture the struggles and triumphs of three wheelchair users as they battle to maintain their independence, face insensitivity within the health care system and interact with well-intentioned families and friends. Footage of Galen Buckwalter, Vicki Elman and Ernie Wallengren’s intimate, private and sometimes humorous everyday experiences offer a glimpse into the realities of being a wheelchair user in our culture.
GRETCHEN BERLAND
Writer, Producer, Director
Gretchen Berland is a physician who uses her experience in documentary production and journalism to highlight issues that are critical to understanding and improving health care. She has spent the last 10 years giving video cameras to participants. ROLLING is her third project to use this approach.
Her video project, Cross-Cover, provides a first-person perspective on the problems faced by young doctors during their internship year. It chronicles the changes in their attitudes toward the patients they treat and in their personal and professional aspirations. Its frank portrayal of the internship process has been cited as a valuable tool for improving the quality of medical training.
Berland also served as lead author on a survey of health information resources on the Internet. The study found that healthcare consumers, those with lower reading skills in particular, face significant obstacles to locating accurate, complete and understandable information on a variety of common medical problems. Through her efforts, Berland prompts physicians and the public to consider several key questions about health and society: how we learn about our own health, how physicians teach and learn, and how affliction creates physical and social barriers that often pass unnoticed.
Berland received a B.A. (1986) from Pomona College and an M.D. (1996) from Oregon Health and Science University. Prior to attending medical school, Berland worked for the PBS television series NOVA and MacNeil/Lehrer Productions. She completed her internship and residency at Washington University Medical Center in St. Louis, Barnes Hospital (1996-1999). Berland was a fellow of the Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Program at the University of California, Los Angeles (1999-2001). Since 2001, she has been an assistant professor in the Department of Internal Medicine at Yale University School of Medicine.
VICKI ELMAN
Vicki Elman is president of a local chapter of Californians for Disability Rights, Inc. and currently advocating for a bill called the “V. Elman Community Living Act,” which would make it easier for the disabled to live at home. It has yet to be introduced to the California State Legislature. Elman formerly worked as the business manager for a department at the UCLA School of Medicine. Her multiple sclerosis (MS) now limits her ability to work. Her insurance plan limits the choices she can make; she cannot choose her own doctor. She is active in several MS support groups.
Elman lives in San Dimas and is the mother of a daughter in medical school. Elman earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Cal State University.
GALEN BUCKWALTER
Galen Buckwalter is vice president of research and development at eHarmony.com. Buckwalter developed and validated the online dating service’s original questionnaire and matching models and currently supervises a department of five Ph.D.’s conducting research on a wide range of issues related to the development and maintenance of intimate relationships. He is also an adjunct professor at the graduate school of psychology, Fuller Theological Seminary, in Pasadena, California, where he received a Ph.D. in clinical psychology.
Buckwalter is a lyricist and vocalist for the four-person, L.A.-based band, Siggy, which is now mixing its fourth CD with producer Dave Trumfio. The CD, which follows Cryptophasia, will be released in early 2008. Buckwalter, a native of Pennsylvania, has been married to Deborah Buckwalter, who is also a musician and clinical psychologist, for nearly 11 years. The couple has four grandkids, ages 1 through 7.
Buckwalter, who relies on HMOs for health care, was the first person to volunteer to take the video camera. He injured his spinal cord after a diving accident at the age of 17 and has been using a wheelchair for more than 30 years.
ERNIE WALLENGREN
Ernie Wallengren was a writer-producer for many television shows, including The Waltons, Little House on the Prairie, Baywatch, Falcon Crest, Knight Rider, Flipper, Promised Land, and Life Goes On.
Wallengren was diagnosed with ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, in 2001 at the age of 48. He lived in Calabasas, California with his wife, Cheryl Wallengren, and their five children, three boys and two girls, now aged 16 to 24. Wallengren wrote about ALS, which attacks nerve cells in the brain, for one episode of Doc, about a country doctor in New York, and for an episode of the last series he wrote for, Touched by an Angel.
Wallengren was a member of the Writers Guild of America, serving a term on its board, and his health insurance during his illness was provided through that organization.
In 2002, Wallengren was honored with the National Courage Award from the Muscular Dystrophy Association, which is awarded annually at the Jerry Lewis Telethon Extravaganza. He had many passions, particularly coaching basketball for several youth teams, including The Force and The Blue Eagles. Two tournaments are held annually in his honor, the Ernie Tourney and the E.F. Wallengren Hoopfest, which is sponsored by family and friends. All proceeds from the latter go to the E. F. Wallengren Fund for ALS Research, a fund set up by the ALS Association prior to his death.
Wallengren was a Utah native who served a two-year Mormon mission in Central America and later graduated Magna Cum Laude from Loyola Marymount University with a degree in communication. He died in May of 2003 at age 50.
