Local filmmaker Tom Sutch was honored with the Best First Film award at the 2007 Long Island International Film Expo for his documentary, Broken Hearts, Electric Shocks.

Sutch, 23, a lifelong resident of Levittown, wrote and directed the award-winning film on a budget of under $200. Originally created as his senior project at Binghamton University, Broken Hearts, Electric Shocks, is an intimate telling of his family's decades-long struggle with a rare heart condition called Long QT Syndrome. In the film, Sutch narrates a 40-minute journey through his family's tragic past, while other family members share their own stories of losing loved ones and living with the disease.

"It was such a great experience; it's very rewarding to have my family's story recognized by the festival," Sutch stated. "I hope it shows how one can do something constructive after suffering a loss, and above all I hope someone can view this and catch Long QT Syndrome before it is too late, and know they are not alone."

Long QT Syndrome is a hereditary disorder of the heart's electrical system that leaves affected people vulnerable to fast, chaotic heartbeats that may lead to fainting, cardiac arrest or sudden death. Sutch was diagnosed by a blood test in 2006, after the associated gene had already been discovered in nearly a dozen of his closest relatives, including his brother and sister. But the discovery was never made for Tom's aunt, Kathleen, who died at age 13 in 1980, and his father, Kevin, who was only 39 when he passed away in his sleep in 1995. Both deaths were sudden, swift and unexplained, until an uncle was diagnosed with Long QT Syndrome in 2001.

The Long Island International Film Expo was Tom's first film festival experience, and he has submitted Broken Hearts, Electric Shocks to nearly a dozen more festivals taking place later this year. He was presented with a gold statuette at an awards gala on July 19.