SXSW Film Review: Gabby Giffords Won't Back Down

Gabby Giffords was talkative, articulate, and naturally persuasive, until she wasn’t.

The Arizona Representative was shot in the brain at a Congresswoman on Your Corner event she held at a Tucson-area grocery store on Jan. 8, 2011. Six people died in the incident, including federal judge John Roll and 9-year-old Christina-Taylor Green.

That’s where directors Julie Cohen and Betsy West (of 2018 documentary RBG) pick up the story. Hours after the tragedy, NPR had confirmed Giffords’ death, and the nation, along with her husband, retired astronaut Sen. Mark Kelly, had began the mourning process.

But against tremendous odds, Giffords underwent brain surgery and survived. Cohen and West guide viewers through Giffords' road to recovery as she suffers from aphasia, an illness that inhibits the ability to transform thoughts into words.

Enhancing the beauty, pain, and remarkable perseverance of Giffords’ experience, Kelly took videos of his wife starting day one after her injury. The archival footage is intimate, showing Giffords in physical, speech, and even music therapy, where she cannot form the words to “Happy Birthday.” Yet in a video from years later, we see Giffords belting the song at her own birthday dinner, shining with charisma, surrounded by family and friends.

Expertly woven through Giffords’ personal story is a comprehensive political commentary on the need for heightened background checks for gun purchasers. Clips from every mass shooting since 2011, accompanied by former president Barack Obama’s account of the devastation, elevate the film's historical and societal impact.

Gabby Giffords Won't Back Down is a film about grit. It’s a film about feminism, change-making, and defying adversity. Even pre-incident, Gabby Giffords’ life — her unlikely rise to politics and marriage to an astronaut — was documentary-worthy. But this film represents more than a politician's success story: it embodies grief, dignity, and above all, love.

“The small things add up,” Giffords said, confidently commanding the premier’s audience. “Change doesn't happen overnight, but we can’t do it alone. I learned that when people care for each other and work together, progress is possible. A better world is possible. Join me, let’s move ahead together.”

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Gabby Giffords Won't Back Down

Documentary Spotlight, World Premiere
Tuesday, March 15, 11:45am, Alamo Lamar
Friday, March 18, 1pm, Stateside
Online: March 13, 9am-March 15, 9am