Leonard Lee Buschel is the founder of the 15^th annual Reel Recovery Film Festival, coming up later this month (October 27 – 29). 

This year, attendees can expect an eclectic lineup of contemporary and classic films, documentaries and shorts from American and international, first-time filmmakers and industry veterans. 

The event takes place from Friday, October 27 through Saturday, October 29 from 5 to 11 p.m at the Laemmle NoHo Cinema in North Hollywood. 

There will also be an opening night networking party on Friday, October 27 from 5-6:30 p.m.

Tickets are $10 and can be purchased on www.eventbrite.com or call 310-767-6970

Laemmle NoHo Cinema, 5240 Lankershim Boulevard, North Hollywood, CA 91601

The REEL Recovery Film Festival and Symposium is presented by Writers In Treatment. The multi-day event is a celebration of film, recovery and fellowship. The festival showcases filmmakers who make honest films about addiction, alcoholism, behavioral disorders, treatment and recovery. Slated for screening is an eclectic lineup of contemporary films, documentaries and shorts from American and international, first-time filmmakers and industry veterans. To learn more, visit https://reelrecoveryfilmfestival.org/.

A longtime Los Angeles resident (via Philadelphia), Leonard’s path to creating a film festival that focuses on works exploring the dark side of addiction and the light of recovery from the perspective of people who “have been there” is unconventional, to say the least.

Who better to create a film event that deals with addiction, alcoholism, behavioral disorders, treatment and recovery that a recovering addict himself? 

Leonard was born into an idyllic Jewish family in North Philadelphia.  But at just two weeks old, his father died after suffering a heart attack on his way home from his job as postal clerk.  The solid middle-class path that had been laid before him was derailed and life unfolded in a way his late father would never have imagined.  As a boy, Leonard gravitated toward the corner candy store where the local bookie and a group of cigar-smoking, streetwise philosophers who bought and sold hot merchandise, became his male role models.

It wouldn’t be long before Leonard got into smoking marijuana, which evolved into a lifestyle where he wouldn’t go a day sober for roughly 40 years.  He became a drug dealer as he continued his battle with full-on addiction.  In the meanwhile, he found the time to fashion an eclectic career as a photographer, book editor, publisher and marketing director.  Finally, after decades of struggling, Leonard was “struck sober.”  Happily, he has remained so for the past 28 years.

Always an admirer of music, books, film and art -- and as he continued with recovery -- Leonard reinvented himself in a positive way, becoming a California Certified Substance Abuse Counselor.  In 2008, he created Writers in Treatment, an organization offering free referrals for individuals suffering from alcoholism or addiction.  With the encouragement of the many novelists, screenwriters and journalists he either helped or sought help from over the years, Leonard founded the Reel Recovery Film Festival as a celebration of film, the arts, writing and creativity.

Produced by Writers in Treatment, the Reel Recovery Film Festival has more in store for attendees than just films. There will be a Narcan training session -- Narcan training provides information on how to recognize an opioid overdose, administer naloxone, and care for the individual until emergency services arrive.

In addition to assisting people get clean and sober through connection and collaboration with top treatment centers in the United States, Writers in Treatment has given away thousands of tickets to the festival to individuals in treatment centers and sober livings.  It’s a tradition that will continue this year.

For more information, visit www.ReelRecoveryFilmFestival.org and www.LeonardBuschel.com.