The documentary Rise Up, West has been added to the lineup for the 44th Annual USA Film Festival, taking place April 22 to 27, 2014 in Dallas, Texas. After a fertilizer plant explosion killed 15 people in the town of West, TX the high school football team helped lead the town’s recovery.
David Woodard, a West native, took the job as West High School coach just months before the blast. He knew he’d spend the next ten games rebuilding a losing football program. He did not know, within months, he’d be rebuilding his own hometown and his own home, destroyed by the explosion. But he was the right man for the job with a focus and dedication that gave his players something and someone to believe during the darkest times of their lives.