Filmmaker Keith Maitland with film subjects of The Eyes of Me.

Panel moderator Paul Stekler leads a round table discussion with Keith Maitland, filmmaker of The Eyes of Me; Karen Skloss, filmmaker of Sunshine; Michel Scott, filmmaker of The Horse Boy.

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.

The event was especially exciting for me –– by coincidence Independent Lens scheduled the film to air on March 2, otherwise known around these parts as Texas Independence Day. Patrick Floyd, my producing partner had the great idea to celebrate Texas Independence Day as Texas Independents’ Day due to the fact that this season, Indie Lens has chosen three Austin-based independent films: The Eyes of Me, Karen Skloss’ Sunshine and The Horse Boy by Michel Scott.

As the crowd assembled in the historic room, Bill Baird of the Austin band Sunset, kicked off the night with a short set of his distinctively beautiful songs –– many of which are on the soundtrack of my film.

KLRU set the stage for an incomparable filmmaker’s round table led by the award-winning filmmaker and professor, Paul Stekler. Paul was effusive in his description of all three films and probing in his line of questions for me, Karen, and Michel. It was a rare pleasure for me to share the stage with these filmmakers and to give our assembled audience a view into the other great Austin films that Independent Lens will present this season. Each filmmaker gave their own perspective on what goals they have for the impact of their film on the audience and I was really pleased to hear both Karen and Michel express sentiments similar to my own –– we make independent films so that audiences can connect with our subjects and in effect, understand themselves and each other that much better. It’s a simple goal that takes years of work to accomplish.

During the screening I experienced a mixture of feelings: happiness, pride, and relief. It’s been a long road to get to Independent Lens. There have been a lot of folks who have contributed to the effort and without them all, last night could never have happened.

To everyone at Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired, the hundreds of individual donors, All Blind Children of Texas, The Meadows Foundation, Austin Film Society, ITVS, Independent Lens, PBS, and, of course, to the audience who let us into their living room last night, on Texas Independents’ Day, I can’t think of anything more fitting to say than: Thanks Y’all.

-Keith Maitland
Filmmaker, The Eyes of Me

Carrie Kaufman moderates a panel discussion trapped inside a wheelchair lift

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.

The show must go on (while ITVS' Naomi Walker and event panel moderator, Carrie Kaufman, are stuck in the wheelchair lift - left)

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!

We eventually got crowbarred out, and I’m sure the Cultural Center will be checking the lifts regularly from now on.  Panelists Jasmine Coates and Adam Ballard spoke beautifully about the question of segregated schools for youth with disabilities, getting accommodations in public schools, and disability identity in general.  Jasmine offered a student perspective and Adam brought the perspective of an organizer and former student.  We spoke about the importance of disability being embraced as a natural (normal, even!) part of human diversity. Our audience contributed to a rich discussion about whether or not public schools were obligated to provide accommodations, commonalities and differences of the disability experience, and struggles that all youth have with “the system.”

Carrie Kaufman (right) after being "sprung" from the wheelchair lift with a crowbar

When the discussion ended, many folks stuck around to continue the conversation, network, and share their appreciation for what was an enriching afternoon.

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

Patrick Floyd (left), the producer of The Eyes of Me, and Keith Maitland (right), the director, at the HoustonPBS Community Cinema Screening of their film.

“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.”

Meagan McComic (right), one of the subjects of The Eyes of Me, with her mom at the HoustonPBS Community Cinema screening.

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.

The Missouri History Museum was ready and equipped with special earpieces so blind film goers could get a better idea of the picture The Eyes of Me was really painting. Actually, having the earpieces available was exactly what panelist, Pastor Dave Andrus -who runs the Lutheran Blind Mission and who has been blind since age 11- said society needs to move toward. The city of Austin, Texas featured in the film is very equipped to handle its blind residents, and although St. Louis still has a ways to go, the panelists agreed the city is making progress in supporting persons with disabilities especially in the area of transportation services.

Panelist Joy Waddel, Assistant Superintendent of the Missouri School for the Blind, said she and her staff loved the film. She said, “Teens are teens and they all have similar problems growing up. It’s just that these teens have an extra handicap to deal with.” She especially loved the film because as she put it, “It was so great in the film to see the teens put into words how they feel. That is an issue that we often have to work with in school.” Other than that she said, “I could have put St. Louis faces on each of the characters in the film I really have seen those students right in my own school.”

Busboys and Poets owner Andy Shallal holds up both the Braille and printed versions of the restaurant menus

Busboys and Poets was intentionally created to be “community space” with tasty food as an extra perk. Busboys and Poets has been hosting Community Cinema in the Langston Room for nearly 5 seasons. The introduction of Braille menus is yet another effort to bring more communities to Busboys and Poets and our Community Cinema events.

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.

ADAPT Philadelphia (Photo by Harvey Finkle harveyfinkle.com)

The Community Cinema Philadelphia program was excited to work with a new venue for their event 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,” explains Regional Outreach Coordinator (pro tem) for Philly Sara Zia Ebrahimi. She also says,”The Eyes of Me screening provides an opportunity to bridge the gap in bringing these communities together.”

Philadelphia has 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.

In this video extra, a new student at the school, Denise, explores a brand new store in the neighborhood and learns to navigate on her own, with the help of a coach.

Tune in tomorrow.

“I know what it’s like to be sighted, and I know what it’s like to be blind. And I do think going blind has given me a different point of view.” Isaac, a subject in The Eyes Of Me

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.

Jennie Lay describes the event at the Bud Werner Memorial Library. For The Eyes of Me we also partnered with Access Anything and STARS (Steamboat Adaptive Recreational Sports) to present a free screening of The Eyes of Me. We showed the first five minutes of the film with “audio description” allowing each guest to experience it with a blindfold before removing their eye coverings to watch the film as a sighted audience. Access Anything also made a short film highlighting video and photo footage of blind skiers and riders during the past few years’ adaptive ski camps on the Steamboat Ski Area and surrounding backcountry expeditions to open the evening’s program. The library put out a display of Braille books and resources from the Colorado Talking Book Library. Access Anything gave a short talk about high-profile adaptive sports and STARS talked about their programs and growing opportunities. We ended the evening by reading the update from the film director about each of the four teenagers who he highlighted in the film.

The panel –– organized to represent an intergenerational view on being blind –– shared personal experiences as compared to those in the film.

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.

The crowd was welcomed by Gerry Kitzhoffer, principal of Overbrook School for the Blind (OSB), who also introduced the panel afterwards, which included OSB senior Traniece Johnson and alumni Donal Buie; independent living services supervisor at Liberty Resources, Inc. Cecelia Ramatsingh and moderator, Bill Chrisner from the Disability Rights Network of Pennsylvania. The panel –– organized to represent an intergenerational view on being blind –– shared personal experiences as compared to those in the film. Comments touched on the importance of private education for the blind to support social development, but also the hope that one day the public school system might offer a more well rounded curriculum for people living with disabilities so that success with integration and mainstreaming might be achieved.

Audience questions further engaged the panelists around these issues, and also extended to inquiries about how the community at large might find opportunities to engage with the school.

In closing the panel, Cecelia Ramatsingh offered these words “Let us continue to strive for justice for all (especially people with disabilities) and independent living for all.” And Bill Chrisner followed up by impressing upon the crowd to “Be proud of who you are. We who have disabilities do not overcome them, we succeed with our differences and they are a part of who we are. It’s the prejudice and discrimination we run into that we overcome.”

Last night’s event was a coordinated effort on the part of all the event partners to bring the public together with people living with disabilities to increase awareness and also to provide broader access to cultural events for guests with disabilities –– an endeavor that we at Community Cinema hope to continue to offer in the future.

Cindy Burstein
Regional Outreach Coordinator

Isaac, featured in The Eyes Of Me, with his horses at home in Paris, TX

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.

ADAPT Philadelphia (Photo by Harvey Finkle harveyfinkle.com)

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.

Isaac with his horses in Paris, TX

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.

Meagan dons her graduation cap.

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.