On December 19, 1997 the film Titanic was released in theaters. The story of the 1912 sinking of the ship that had been described as unsinkable.

This was a film Kate felt she needed to be apart of. “I closed the script, wept floods of tears and said, ‘Right, I’ve absolutely got to be a part of this. No two ways about it.'”

And not only did Kate have to do this film but she wanted Leonardo DiCaprio as her Jack. “I was thinking, ‘I’m going to persuade him to do this, because I’m not doing it without him, and that’s all there is to it, I will have him.’ Because he is f*ing brilliant. He’s a f*ing genius, and that was absolutely why.” Kate & Leo’s relationship started with Kate flashing him on set their first day … and that was the beginning of a beautiful friendship. Leo shared, “In a lot of ways, Kate and I have really grown up in this industry together; we’ve been a support mechanism for each other for such a long period of time. We’ve been there for each other and helped guide each other.”

The seven month long shoot was rough. Kate shared her memories of filming, “There were moments of despair when I thought, ‘God, this is so tough, and I’m so tired.’ And, yes, the water was cold. But, y’know, I have to say, at the end of the day I wouldn’t have had that water heated. I said to Jim, ‘Please don’t make that tank hot, because then we can’t really know what it would have felt like.’ I’m a bit of a masochist. I never believe I’ve done my job properly unless I go home feeling that I’ve suffered.”

All that hard work must have been worth it because the film earned $1.8 billion worldwide and was awarded eleven Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Director.

In honor of the twentieth anniversary AMC theaters are showing the film on the big screen. Go here to find a theater and purchase tickets.

The Golden Hat Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to changing the way people with autism are perceived, by shining a light on their abilities and emphasizing their great potential.

After watching A Mother's Courage: Talking Back to Autism with my daughter, she turned to me and asked, "What if I wasn';t able to tell you I love you, mummy?"

As I thought about what that meant, for a mother not to be able to talk with her own child, I realized that I had to lend my voice to raise awareness of this rapidly increasing disorder. As a mother of two, I thought, how could I not help tell this story of another mother's journey to discover her son; a journey of courage and determination to try to change the world for children with autism.

To learn more about The Golden Hat Foundation visit their official site at goldenhatfoundation.org.