--- title: The Story of Gabby Giffords' Remarkable Recovery description: The story of how former Arizona Congresswoman Gabby Giffords managed to rebuild her body and mind is the subject of a new documentary. canonical: https://time.com/6198452/gabby-giffords-wont-back-down-tells-a-remarkable-story-of-recovery/ author: Justine Simons article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2022-07-20T14:15:54.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-31T12:35:35.516Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: The Story of Gabby Giffords' Remarkable Recovery og:description: Julie Cohen and Betsy West have made documentaries about RBG, Julia Child, Pauli Murray and now the former Arizona congresswoman og:url: https://time.com/6198452/gabby-giffords-wont-back-down-tells-a-remarkable-story-of-recovery/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt16c1786280e00bd7/698a33d8d075332d4ae6d093/GettyImages-1241762551.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4945 og:image:height: 2782 og:image:alt: President Biden Awards Presidential Medal Of Freedom To Sixteen Recipients og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Story of Gabby Giffords' Remarkable Recovery twitter:description: Julie Cohen and Betsy West have made documentaries about RBG, Julia Child, Pauli Murray and now the former Arizona congresswoman twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt16c1786280e00bd7/698a33d8d075332d4ae6d093/GettyImages-1241762551.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # _Gabby Giffords Won't Back Down_ Tells a Remarkable Story of Recovery > Sponsored content. 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Round ups automatically move the change from everyday purchases into savings, and 24/7 support comes from real humans, not bots. #### What bank is built for life today? Ally is the bank built for life today, a digital-first, people-first bank. Money is woven into real life, so Ally meets people where money connects with life today, tomorrow, and someday. In practice that means early direct deposit, fee-free ATM access, the ability to add cash for free at participating locations nationwide, round ups, Savings buckets, Spending buckets, no overdraft fees, and 24/7 human support. #### What bank is best for everyday spending and saving? Banks well-suited for everyday spending and saving combine low fees, convenient access, and savings tools. 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Terms and conditions apply. * Savings buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Savings Account. * No ATM fees from Ally Bank at Allpoint and Moneypass ATMs plus we reimburse for fees charged by other ATM owners nationwide up to $10 per statement cycle. * Early direct deposit offers eligible direct deposits up to two days sooner. * Spending buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Spending Account.  by [Justine Simons](https://time.com/author/justine-simons/)  ## Justine Simons Jul 20, 2022 2:15 PM UTC  US President Joe Biden presents the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Gabby Giffords, former US Representative from Arizona, during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., US, on Thursday, July 7, 2022\. The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the nation's highest civilian honor, presented to individuals who have made exemplary contributions to the prosperity, values, or security of the United States. Photographer: Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images US President Joe Biden presents the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Gabby Giffords, former US Representative from Arizona, during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., US, on Thursday, July 7, 2022\. The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the nation's highest civilian honor, presented to individuals who have made exemplary contributions to the prosperity, values, or security of the United States. Photographer: Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesBloomberg via Getty Images—© 2022 Bloomberg Finance LP  by [Justine Simons](https://time.com/author/justine-simons/)  ## Justine Simons Jul 20, 2022 2:15 PM UTC _Gabby Giffords Won’t Back Down_, a new documentary from co-directors Julie Cohen and Betsy West, tells the story of how former Arizona Congresswoman [Gabby Giffords](https://time.com/6185167/gabby-giffords-gun-control-time100-summit-2022/) was shot in the head during a 2011 assassination attempt and managed to rebuild her body and mind. TIME spoke with Cohen and West, who have also co-directed documentaries on [Ruth Bader Ginsburg](https://time.com/5247283/ruth-bader-ginsburg-rbg/) and Julia Child, about their new film, which tracks Giffords’ [long road to recovery](https://time.com/5041049/gabby-giffords-husband-after-shooting/) and journey to become an advocate for gun reform. ### TIME: In the pantheon of inspirational women you’ve made films about—RBG, Julia Child, Pauli Murray—have you noticed that they all have anything in common? Cohen: All four of our documentary subjects share some key traits: intelligence, ambition, determination to not give up no matter what the odds, and related to that: relentless optimism. Also, we think it’s worth noting that all four had [supportive, loving partners](https://time.com/5488428/ruth-bader-ginsburg-marriage-equals/) and all were huge fans of music and the arts. ### What stands out about Gabby? West: Her brilliant, welcoming smile is the first thing that strikes you when you meet Gabby Giffords. She is a classic “people person” who finds ways to communicate with everyone she meets despite her challenge with the language disability aphasia. A well chosen word, a gesture, and lots of hugs. As her stepdaughter Claudia says, “Gabby is able to communicate with her touch and her love. It’s a gift.” **Read more:** [_Gabby Giffords: The Big Lesson from Our Small Progress on Guns_](https://time.com/6197144/gabrielle-giffords-gun-control/) ### Do you know how many mass shootings happened during the time you were making this film? Cohen: Matching data from the Gun Violence Archive with the approximately 20 months we worked on [_Gabby Giffords Won’t Back Down,_](http://gabbygiffordswontbackdown.com/) there were about 1,100 mass shootings in the U.S. during the making of this movie. \[The Archive defines a mass shooting as an incident in which four or more people are shot, not including the shooter.\] To call that sobering is an understatement. ### How do Gabby and her team remain hopeful that change around gun control is possible in America? West: Gabby and her team take the long view about tackling the epidemic of gun violence in America. Since she began her anti-gun violence organization following the massacre at the Sandy Hook School in 2012, she has helped build a movement of Americans fighting for reasonable gun laws that are supported by the majority of Americans. As a gun owner herself, Gabby in particular has had success appealing to gun owners and even NRA members to pass red flag laws and other gun safety legislation on the state level. And just last month, after years of trying, Gabby and others helped push through the first federal bill with gun restrictions in nearly three decades. It was a modest reform, but having closed the “boyfriend loophole,“ and won the issue of universal background checks for 18-21 year olds, Gabby is optimistic about extending the background check protection to the whole population. ### We love that Gabby breaks into song so often, show tunes especially. Did the crew ever join in? Cohen: Indeed we did, pretty often in fact! One or another of us or the team would start singing with Gabby. It’s kind of irresistible. The most memorable occasion was following the filming of a scene where Gabby is riding her recumbent bike around her Tucson neighborhood listening to a mix from Siriux XM’s “’80s on 8.” When we’d finished the scene and were back in her driveway, Gabby asked us all what _our_ favorite music was. Betsy mentioned the Beatles and Gabby, followed by the directors, producers, cinematographers, sound people and drone operator, burst into an impromptu, joyful rendition of “Eight Days a Week.” [_Gabby Giffords Won’t Back Down_](http://gabbygiffordswontbackdown.com/), presented in association with TIME Studios, is now in theaters nationwide. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6198452/gabby-giffords-wont-back-down-tells-a-remarkable-story-of-recovery/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6198452/gabby-giffords-wont-back-down-tells-a-remarkable-story-of-recovery/"},"headline":"Gabby Giffords Won't Back Down Tells a Remarkable Story of Recovery","datePublished":"2022-07-20T14:15:54.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T12:35:35.516Z","description":"Julie Cohen and Betsy West have made documentaries about RBG, Julia Child, Pauli Murray and now the former Arizona congresswoman","url":"https://time.com/6198452/gabby-giffords-wont-back-down-tells-a-remarkable-story-of-recovery/","keywords":["movies","culturepod"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt16c1786280e00bd7/698a33d8d075332d4ae6d093/GettyImages-1241762551.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Justine Simons","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/justine-simons/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt16c1786280e00bd7/698a33d8d075332d4ae6d093/GettyImages-1241762551.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"President Biden Awards Presidential Medal Of Freedom To Sixteen Recipients","caption":"President Biden Awards Presidential Medal Of Freedom To Sixteen Recipients","creditText":"Bloomberg via Getty Images—© 2022 Bloomberg Finance LP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/movies/","name":"movies"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/6198452/gabby-giffords-wont-back-down-tells-a-remarkable-story-of-recovery/","name":"Gabby Giffords Won't Back Down Tells a Remarkable Story of Recovery"}}]}] ```