Keith Maitland at KLRU’s Texas Independents’ Day

Earlier this week, PBS affiliate KLRU in Austin, Texas, commemorated Texas Independents’ Day by celebrating the work of three local filmmakers whose work will appear on this season of Independent Lens. Learn more about the event from Keith Maitland, filmmaker of The Eyes of Me.

Last night, nearly 200 people gathered in a dark room to share an hour-long look into the lives of four blind teenagers. With the twinkling lights of the Austin City Limits stage as a backdrop, I couldn’t ask for a more fitting place to experience the incredible communal experience of watching the live Independent Lens broadcast of The Eyes of Me.

The Eyes of Me follows four blind teens over the course of one dynamic year. It’s about watching these teens growing up before our eyes. As they discover who they are, it is my hope that you will discover something about yourself –– it’s about challenging your own perception and seeing yourself in a new way… at least that’s what it’s always been about for me.

The entire process of creating this film, from a nascent idea, through 250 hours of rolling cameras, and two and half years of editing, has been both rewarding and challenging in degrees that I’m still not sure I can register. Along the way, I have learned many lessons about my creative processes, and my own humanity.

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Tags: austin, blind, film screenings, filmmakers, health, independent film, texas

The Eyes Of Me Event in Chicago Overcomes Its Own Struggles With Accessibility

Carrie Kaufman is a board member of The Chicago Freedom School and was in the ITVS documentary Terra Incognita: Mapping Stem Cell Research, a Community Cinema and Independent Lens selection. She writes about our recent Community Cinema Chicago event for The Eyes Of Me.

Chicago’s February 20 screening of The Eyes of Me was held in the beautiful Claudia Cassidy Theater at the Chicago cultural Center. The event was appropriately cosponsored by the Chicago Freedom School, a youth focused social justice organization, and Access Living, a disability rights organization.

The Eyes Of Me follows blind youth along their journey at a school for the blind in Austin, Texas. The film details their struggles in and out of that and other schools. The youth in the film have varying levels of visual impairments, and are all at different levels of acceptance and independence. The film doesn’t focus on their visual impairments beyond how it affects the living of their day-to-day life. It shows us about all of the other interests and outlets that each of the youth devote themselves to. The youth are inspirational not because they are living with a disability, but because they are intelligent, talented, and independent people.

Most of the close to 200 attendees stayed for a great discussion following the film. The discussion, however, got off to an ironic start, when I, the moderator, got trapped in the wheelchair lift on the way up to the stage with Naomi Walker, National Community Cinema Coordinator.  I remarked on how if the film showed us anything, it’s that it wasn’t necessary for me to see my panelists in order to carry on the discussion with them, so I moderated the first 20 minutes of the discussion about disability philosophy, politics, and accessibility in general from in the wheelchair lift. What a display of obstacles to access!

Find out if Naomi and Carrie ever get out of the lift! › Continue reading

Tags: blind, chicago, disabilities, the eyes of me

The Eyes Of Me Finishes Community Cinema Run And Airs Tomorrow

Throughout the month of February, Community Cinema welcomed thousands of guests to our 47 free screening events for Keith Maitland’s documentary The Eyes Of Me. The Eyes of me airs tomorrow Tuesday, March 2 on Independent Lens at 10:00 PM on most PBS stations (check local listings).

Filmmaker Keith Maitland attended our screening in Houston presented locally by HoustonPBS. He shares his experience at the event.

“With more than 125 audience members in attendance –– many of them blind or visually-impaired –– HoustonPBS hosted a wonderful Community Cinema screening of The Eyes of Me. It’s always exciting for me to be able to sit in a crowded theater and share the film with a new audience but there was something very special about this particular screening. Along with producer Patrick Floyd, I was happy to travel to Houston from Austin, Texas, to experience Community Cinema firsthand. Meagan McComic (one of the main characters from the film) and Bill Daugherty, superintendent of the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired (TSBVI), joined Patrick and I on the panel after the film, to share their reflections and perspectives with the Houston community –– many of whom had ties to TTSBVI directly. Two of the audience members were alumni of TSBVI –– Michael Garrett, class of ’69, and Bernice Klepak, class of ’55. It was exciting to hear Michael and Bernice’s response to the film, and the contrasts between their days at the school and the stories of Chas, Meagan, Denise, and Isaac represented in the film. Bernice was impressed with how honest and natural today’s students were compared to her days when she feels that they were all “pretty straight-laced.”

At this screening, as we have done at all of our festival screenings before this, we were able to offer live audio description through the use of wireless receivers and transmitters. This system (provided by a grant from the Austin Film Society) gives blind and visually-impaired audience members the opportunity to hear an additional audio track that offers visual information, and reads onscreen text, so that users can experience the film as fully as any audience member. Use of this technology offers accessibility and also educates sighted audience members about accessibility. It’s not surprising that most people have never heard of or considered audio description, we didn’t know about it before making the film either, but I’m happy to be an advocate for accessible media and accessible websites too! (Our website, http://EyesofMe.com, is fully accessible via use of screen reading software, and we offer a fully accessible trailer that is both audio described, and open captioned for the hearing impaired.) What made Community Cinema such a great screening event was that the audience was so active and engaged. The Q&A following the film was a mixture of questions and comments about the film, the specific characters and stories, as well as how themes within the film affected the local community. It was exactly what we’ve hoped Community Cinema would be –– it was wonderful. Thanks so much HoustonPBS.”

Read on for more event highlights, exclusive video, and broadcast information. › Continue reading

Tags: blind, documentary, free events, pbs, the eyes of me, visually impaired

The Eyes Of Me Finishes February on A Strong Note: Colorado

Producing Partners are local community organizations that co-present Community Cinema screenings across the country. In Grand Junction, Colorado, Penny Mitchell describes a recent free event for the film The Eyes of Me by Keith Maitland.

The film screening went quite well and was followed by a thoughtful panel. There was considerable discussion about, Isaac, the young man who lost his vision when the hospital would not operate because the family had no health insurance coverage. Several people thought that couldnt happen in Colorado because hospitals would have a mandate to operate in that situation. But one of our panelists gave several examples of similar problems she knew about in Colorado. She said that although he would be blind without the operation, it was not a life threatening situation and that may be one of the criteria.

The panelists also wanted to note that it was difficult to distinguish in the film which issues were rooted in socioeconomic problems and which were due to visual handicaps. The families in the film were from poorer communities and may not have access to advocates. That brought us to the advocacy groups available in our valley and the blind woman on our panel said that its incredibly hard to find these groups when they are generally only advertised in newspapers and she can’t read! The panelists noted that its been very hard to engage ophthalmology and optometry staff in a process to provide these resources to patients.

Read on for the details of our event in Steamboat Springs. › Continue reading

Tags: blind, braille, colorado, grand junction, rocky mountain pbs, steamboat springs

Community Cinema Screens The Eyes of Me in Philadelphia

Just the other night, Community Cinema hosted a screening of the Independent Lens film The Eyes of Me at the Overbrook School for the Blind in Philadelphia, Pa. The film follows four visually impaired teenagers in Texas as they face the usual challenges of adolescence while simultaneously learning to navigate a world designed for the sighted. Regional Outreach Coordinator Cindy Burstein gives an overview of what happened and discusses the local impact.

The lobby of the Overbrook School for the Blind in Philadelphia was bustling with activity, as volunteers gathered for the Community Cinema screening of
The Eyes of Me.

Fran Fulton, a staff person with Liberty Resources, Inc. (a partner in presenting the event) was busy training a Villanova University sorority on how to serve as sighted guides. Fulton, who is blind, reminded the volunteers that some of the most basic things that sighted people take for granted are important to remember when assisting blind people, such as telling them which direction the seat is facing, and placing the hand of the blind person on the seat in front of them as a way to guide them into an available chair, which may be four or five seats down the row.

Audio describers from Amaryllis Theatre Company were setting up equipment for live audio description, and American Sign Language (ASL) interpreters from the Deaf-Hearing Communication Center were getting acquainted with the space and ready to provide sign language interpretation for the panel discussion taking place after the film.

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Tags: blind, pbs, philadelphia, philly, students, visually impaired

The Eyes Of Me Finishes February on A Strong Note: Idaho and Arizona

Producing Partners are local community organizations that co-present Community Cinema screenings across the country. Here are highlights from two recent events. One event was way up in the northeast and another way down in the southwest.

In Tucson we partner with the Pima County Public Library system. At the Miller-Golf Links Branch Library we recently featured two panelists who were currently working with blind students in Arizona, and that made for an interesting conversation after the documentary. The film showed the difference between attending TSBVI High vs. mainstreaming in local schools as having a place/community vs. being isolated and odd man out. Our Tucson discussion observed the higher independent living skills displayed by the mainstream students vs. the transition difficulties of blind kids who had attended the Arizona School for the Deaf & Blind.

Lynn Allen, our Regional Outreach Coordinator for all of Idaho held one of her many monthly events at Boise State University. The event drew the attention of the local college press with a feature article in the ARBITER, the campus newspaper. Our speaker did a good job of keeping the conversation going. She was blind from birth and related some of her experiences to those of the teens in the film, but mostly focused on what they were experiencing and how – in so many ways – it was what every teenager experiences. What struck me most about the film is how isolated the blind teens’ lives were when they are mainstreamed. Others in the audience shared my observation. And our discussion left us feeling that there has to be a balance between separation from family and living your own life.

Tags: blind, boise, the eyes of me, tucson, visual impairment

Community Cinema Screens The Eyes of Me in Houston

This past week, Community Cinema hosted a screening of the Independent Lens film The Eyes of Me at HoustonPBS. The film follows four visually impaired teenagers in Texas as they face the usual challenges of adolescence while simultaneously learning to navigate a world designed for the sighted. Filmmaker Keith Maitland attended the screening and gives an overview of what happened and the impact the event below.

With more than 125 audience members in attendance –– many of them blind or visually-impaired –– HoustonPBS hosted a wonderful Community Cinema screening of The Eyes of Me. It’s always exciting for me to be able to sit in a crowded theater and share the film with a new audience but there was something very special about this particular screening. Along with producer Patrick Floyd, I was happy to travel to Houston from Austin, Texas, to experience Community Cinema firsthand. Meagan McComic (one of the main characters from the film) and Bill Daugherty, superintendent of the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired (TSBVI), joined Patrick and I on the panel after the film, to share their reflections and perspectives with the Houston community –– many of whom had ties to TTSBVI directly. Two of the audience members were alumni of TSBVI –– Michael Garrett, class of ’69, and Bernice Klepak, class of ’55. It was exciting to hear Michael and Bernice’s response to the film, and the contrasts between their days at the school and the stories of Chas, Meagan, Denise, and Isaac represented in the film. Bernice was impressed with how honest and natural today’s students were compared to her days when she feels that they were all “pretty straight-laced.” › Continue reading

Tags: blind, disability, Houston, texas, the eyes of me

The Eyes of Me: Reflecting on Disability Rights

Our Community Cinema Regional Outreach Coordinator (pro tem) partner Sara Zia Ebrahimi shares her thoughts about the upcoming free screening of The Eyes of Me.

The Community Cinema Philadelphia program is excited to announce a new venue for our February screening of director Keith Maitland’s film The Eyes of Me at the Overbrook School for the Blind (OSB). Overbrook has been providing schooling opportunities to young people with visual impairments for over 100 years, similar to the school featured in Maitlin’s film.

While I’m incredibly grateful that places like OSB exist, an unfortunate result of separate schooling means that most of us who are able-bodied and have full vision and hearing end up almost never interacting with a person with a disability for the majority of our lives. The Eyes of Me screening provides an opportunity to bridge the gap in bringing these communities together

In Philadelphia, we’re also lucky to have a vibrant chapter of ADAPT that is part of Liberty Resources, one of the community partners for our screening. Over the past twenty years they have won several successful campaigns to create more autonomy and freedom for people with disabilities by creating more accessible housing, transportation and employment options for people in the Philadelphia region. They continually remind people in this area that people with disabilities are not some heroic stories that should be pitied or used as inspirational fodder for the able-bodied, but people who want full vibrant lives like anyone else. They also remind us that if you truly want to be an ally to a person with a disability, occasional charity will not do. Real change will come about through policy changes that consciously integrate deaf, blind, and physically impaired people into all aspects of daily life alongside able-bodied, seeing and hearing people.

Maitland’s film is part of a growing body of work that gives the rest of us an intimate look into the lives of blind teenagers, giving an honest look into the challenges and desires these young people grapple with, normalizing them while also pointing to ways in which changes can be made that would allow these teenagers to integrate into the “real world” easier once finishing school.

I’m excited to be a regional coordinator for ITVS and create an opportunity for seeing and nonseeing people to gather together hear the conversations that will emerge after the film. The event is Wednesday, February 24, 2010 at 7:00 PM at Overbrook School for the Blind, 6333 Malvern Ave. I look forward to meeting you there.

Tags: blind, disability, philadelphia, philly, the eyes of me

Local Free Events For The Eyes Of Me Entertain and Educate

Zoe Nousiainen, our producing partner in Saratoga Springs shared the following thoughts about our recent event for The Eyes Of Me.

We have several library patrons who consistently attend and others who are interested in the particular subject of each film. My co-sponsor for this film was the CEO for the Glens Falls Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired, which is part of a coalition of organizations in New York State.

He discussed what his agency does, how it is funded, and what he got out of the film. He was particularly impressed that the teenagers in the film who originally had some sight were able to articulate their experience so well and didn’t blame their shortcomings on their sight issues.

The audience included several teens and tweens who responded very positively to the film. One girl was especially happy that the young people in the film had friends with sight and were not totally isolated in a blind world.

Our Producing Partner in Colorado Springs, Chris Loud, shared the following thoughts about our recent screening of The Eyes of Me.

The screening of The Eyes of Me in Colorado Springs, co-presented by the Independent Film Society of Colorado, began with an attentive reading of the directors statement and ended with a surprise guest.

I began the screening by reading the statement from the filmmaker to the audience. This introduction caused the audience to be very engaged when we started the film.  You could hear the reactions from the crowd during the reading and they applauded when it ended, similar to what you would see at a film festival.  Really, this is what the Community Cinema screenings are like, attending a film screening at a film festival; an introduction with a statement from the filmmaker, a screening of the film, ending with a panel, speaker and/or a Q & A.

The night got even better when our discussion after the film led to the discovery of a surprise guest attending the screening; a woman who used to teach at the Texas School for the Blind while the film was being made.  She knew three of the students featured in the film and was even in two scenes.  This led to more questions and discussion ranging from blind sports to the details of how blind people take notes in class.  We are setting up a second screening of The Eyes of Me for the Colorado School for the Deaf and Blind, where she teaches now.

Tags: blind, teens, the eyes of me