GERMANTOWN, Md., May 1, 2025 — The horrific years of mental, physical and emotional beatings endured by a Bowie, Md. woman would be enough to send many of us spiraling into a life of pain, shame, and crime in the shadows, in our neighborhoods, and even in jail. But not Saundra Rhode. Today this Woman of Valor is the riveting subject of the new one-hour documentary Resilience Has a Face, by filmmaker James Bonato.
Watching this film makes you want to meet Dr. Rhode (she earned several degrees) and figure out how she developed so much passion and dedication. She turned the most horrific childhood and adolescence into a life of passion for ensuring other kids of similar backgrounds would not have to suffer like she did growing up. Dr. Rhode found therapy and over time successfully channeled her deep anger and pain into an ongoing commitment to teach, support, challenge, share, and inspire. Her plan was to delve into the root of needy kids’ difficult family issues as she did her own. She has worked domestically and globally in academic, religious and recreational settings for weeks at a time even as she raised her own two kids amongst the others, always sharing her home with those in need.
The Gaithersburg-Germantown Chamber of Commerce sponsored the film’s premiere where delegates and officials of the state of Maryland presented James Bonato with an achievement award for making of this inspiring ending with a standing ovation at Montgomery County’s prestigious BlackRock Center for the Arts. The film, Bonato’s fifth documentary, is available at no charge on MyMCMedia.org channel 19 and other access stations and at ResilienceHasAFace.com. Dr. Saundra Rhode and James Bonato would like your help in lifting all communities by encouraging everyone aged 13+ to see this film and be inspired to reach for their dreams no matter what challenges they face.