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Buoniconti's "Unbreakable Bond" Premiered At MIFF Tuesday

MIAMI (CBSMiami) -- Downtown Miami looked a lot like Hollywood at the Miami International Film Festival red carpet premiere of An Unbreakable Bond at the Olympia Theater Tuesday night.

The film, produced by Grammy-award winning music producer Emilio Estefan, documents the relationship between NFL hall of famer Nick Buoniconti and his son Marc and their near 30 year struggle to find a cure for spinal cord injuries through The Miami project to cure paralysis.

"This family works so hard for the community. Everything could have been so negative but they converted everything to positive," Emilio Estefan told CBS4's Lisa Petrillo on the red carpet.

Marc, who was not at Tuesday night's premiere due to a recent medical procedure, suffered his injury in an accident back in college was he was 19.

His dad, Nick, couldn't be more thrilled that their story being told.

"The documentary is not about Marc and myself, yes it is, but it's about hope. I mean it is about hope," said Nick Buoniconti.

Gloria Estefan narrates the film and was happy to do so, after she herself was almost paralyzed in a horrific bus accident many years ago.

"It's been very personal, what can I say, and I've been on the very lucky end of the spectrum. It was our dream to help out in any way we could and when Emilio thought about doing this it was a great promotional tool," explained Gloria Estefan.

Other celebrities near and dear to the Buoniconti family also showed up to support the movie.

"Nick has been such an important part of my success as a coach and then my son went to school with Marc Buoniconti. This is a special evening," said former Miami Dolphins head coach Don Shula.

"It never stops, the hundreds of millions of dollars, the events that draw attention to the cause, the medical advances and now a moment like this," said sports broadcaster Bob Costas.

Former NBC anchorman Tom Brokaw was also there.

"It keeps me coming back just because of the show of courage in the family and the way they've advanced the science of spinal cord research."

After its big Miami premiere, An Unbreakable Bond will go to film festivals around the world, not only to promote consciousness and awareness but also cash for spinal cord research.

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