Myrtle Beach film festival to tell 'Amy's Story'

Millions of families across the nation are affected by domestic abuse, no less so in the Palmetto State.

South Carolina has ranked as high as ninth nationally in the number of reported cases of women killed by their intimate partners, according to a study published last year by the Violence Policy Center in Washington, D.C.

S.C. Attorney General Alan Wilson has called spousal violence a state "crisis," with officials processing more than 36,000 reports of abuse annually.

In "Telling Amy's Story," a documentary that will be screened at 5 p.m. Tuesday at the Myrtle Beach International Film Festival, producer-director Joe Myers, creative director at Penn State Public Broadcasting, employs the story of one abuse victim in State College, Pa., to examine what could have been done differently to save her life.

More, he explores what communities can do to change the outcome for thousands of potential victims.

Hosted by actress and activist Mariska Hargitay (TV's "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit"), "Telling Amy's Story" chronicles the fate of Amy Homan McGee, a mother of two who was shot and killed by her husband in 2001. The film is narrated by detective Deirdri Fishel, who also appears in the movie.

The sixth annual Myrtle Beach festival, which unspools Tuesday through Saturday at the Carmike Cinema 16 at Broadway at the Beach, also has its buoyant side.

More than 120 features, shorts, documentaries, animation and music videos will be screened during the run of the festival, founded and directed by Jerry Dalton of Dalton Pictures, a theatrical releasing and distribution company.

Question-and-answer sessions follow each film block.

For more information, call 843-497-0220 or visit www.myrtlebeachfilmfestival.com.