“The Cat Rescuers” is a feature documentary by award winning filmmakers Rob Fruchtman (Sister Helen) and Steven Lawrence (Sarabah) which recently premiered in New York and had its world premiere at the Hamptons International Film Festival where it won the Zelda Penzel “Giving Voice to the Voiceless” Award, given each year to a film that inspires audiences to respect the dignity and rights of all living being.

At the heart of the documentary is the question of what to do if you come across a starving or injured animal? For  four people, all busy full-time professionals who live in Brooklyn, the answer was clear: they must help.

At first none of them knew what they were doing, but they soon learned the tricks of the trade and, to their shock, discovered the problem was bigger than they had imagined: at least 500,000 abandoned and feral cats on NYC’s streets and the city doing little to address the problem.

“The Cat Rescuers”  follows them night and day as they hit the streets, backyards and alleys of Brooklyn to save feline lives. As the film unfolds, it shows the extraordinary skill, resilience and humor these passionate urban heroes bring to this challenging work, and how it has changed their lives. Against great odds, they are making a difference.

Rob Fruchtman is director, producer and editor of documentaries and television programs. He won the 2002 Sundance Film Festival Documentary Director award for “Sister Helen”, which aired on HBO. He has won three Emmys for his work with PBS. Sweet Dreams” focuses on a remarkable group of Rwandan women as they emerged from the devastation of genocide and created a new future for themselves by opening their country’s first ice cream parlor. His most recent film, MOVING STORIES, follows six dancers from NYC’s Battery Dance Company as they travel across the world teaching some of the most vulnerable youth about expressing themselves through movement.