NEW HOPE, PA (March 6, 2008) – New Hope Celebrates, a an incorporated non-profit gay and lesbian marketing organization, will give a rare showing of Cynthia Wade’s Oscar-winning film “Freeheld” on the big screen on April 26. The documentary will serve as the centerpiece of the New Hope Celebrates film festival. Winner of the 2007 Academy Award for Best Documentary Short and a Special Jury Award at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival, “Freeheld” chronicles Detective Lieutenant Laurel Hester’s struggle to transfer her earned pension to her domestic partner, Stacie Andree. The film depicts the media frenzy, political repercussions and advocacy…

Cynthia Wade is a NYC-based documentary filmmaker. Her short documentary “Freeheld” won a Special Jury Prize at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival, and seven other film awards in major cities such as New York, Boston, Los Angeles, Seattle and Denver. Wade’s five-time award winning HBO documentary “Shelter Dogs” was broadcast in seven countries. Wade directed the 1999 Cinemax Reel Life documentary “Grist For The Mill”, which The Hollywood Reporter called “a delight…full of quirky moments and clever humor” and Variety called “a jewel … extremely comical.” She was co-producer and principal verite cinematographer for the 1998 PBS documentary “Taken In:…