‘Not Going Quietly’: One man’s fight to the end

Above : Ady Barkan is the focus of the documentary “Not Going Quietly.” (Photo/Greenwich Entertainment)

Facing a terminal illness can’t be easy. Yet some of us find a way to make our experience mean something special.

Ady Barkan is such a person. Trained as a lawyer, Barkan responded to the news that he had ALS – Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (aka, Lou Gherig’s disease) – by focusing his energies on founding the Be a Hero campaign .

Barkan tells his story in the documentary “Not Going Quietly,” directed and co-written by Nicholas Bruckman and opening Friday at the Magic Lantern Theatre.

Here are some critical comments:

Tomris Laffly , Variety: “Director Nicholas Bruckman honors Barkan’s work despite escalating struggles with ALS in a traditional yet surprisingly uplifting fashion.”

Eric Kohn , IndieWire: “Not every rally or speech leads to overnight change, but when Barkan speaks, people listen.”

John DeFore , The Hollywood Reporter: “An unusually moving political doc.”

The week’s still young. I’ll update the schedule as time passes.