A prominent Greenwich real estate developer and his wife and their family”™s tragedy that led to the creation of a children”™s hospital in Westchester County are the subjects of an independent film having its national theater debut Friday in Port Chester.
“Louder Than Words” will be shown at the AMC Loews theater in Port Chester as part of the film”™s limited national release in movie theaters. The film is also available on video on demand and iTunes.
The movie”™s subjects, John and Brenda Fareri, of Fareri Associates L.P. in Greenwich, appeared at its world premiere last October at the Hamptons International Film Festival. Their daughter, Julie Fareri, was a producer on the film and is portrayed on screen by actress Morgan Griffin. The roles of John and Brenda Fareri are played by David Duchovny and Hope Davis.
Based on a story by Benjamin Chapin, the film, rated PG-13, follows the Fareris through the medical crisis that befell their family in 1995, when their seriously ill daughter, Maria, was rushed to Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla. Doctors discovered too late that she had rabies contracted from a silver-haired bat. Maria Fareri died in the hospital at the age of 13.
While mourning Maria’s death, the Fareris learned that as part of a school project she had expressed a special wish “for the health and well-being of all the children in the world.” That thought inspired the Fareris”™ commitment to create a children”™s hospital at the Westchester Medical Center and begin a multiyear fundraising effort for the project.
The couple reportedly raised about $40 million, including donations from more than 20,000 people, and the pediatric hospital opened in 2004. The hospital on the Grasslands campus in Valhalla serves more than 20,000 children each year, according to a hospital spokesperson.
Anthony Fabian, who directed “Louder Than Words,” in a press release called the film “essentially a love story about a mature, married couple. They are tested by the ultimate obstacle, the death of their child, and somehow, against all odds, their marriage not only survives, but strengthens. This was hugely uplifting ”“ not a word I would normally associate with such tragic material.”
John Fareri in the press release said he was pleased “that our story was depicted in such a touching and uplifting way. It is a story about hope and healing and shows that sometimes words cannot always heal, but that actions can.”
“We hope that the power of fighting and redemption helps other families dealing with similar situations,” Fareri said. “We are so grateful for all who took part in putting this wonderful on-screen production together and we hope it touches the lives of others.”
A longtime commercial developer in Westchester and Fairfield counties, Fareri is co-developing 3030 Westchester Ave. in Purchase, an 85,000-square-foot office building under construction in the Harrison Executive Medical Park owned by Simone Development Cos., Fareri”™s partner in the approximately $23 million project. The building will be fully leased by Westmed Medical Group.
Fareri two years ago proposed to build a mixed-use health and science complex on the county-owned Grasslands property near the Maria Fareri hospital. His company has been in talks with Westchester County and town of Mount Pleasant officials on the scale of the project, first planned as an 800,000-square-foot, $500 million development in two phases that included a 120-room hotel and 70,000-square-foot retail development in addition to medical and commercial offices and a biotechnology and medical research center.
