philadelphia
WEI Screenings Take Philly
Coalition of Labor Union Women
Ellen Slack is a member of the Philadelphia Chapter of the Coalition of Labor Union Women, which is partnering on the Philadelphia Women’s Empowerment Initiative Screening. She offered this report about an upcoming screening of Made in L.A..
Here in Philadelphia, the views in many neighborhoods are still dominated by old factory buildings that once housed our city’s garment and textile industries. The forces that emptied those buildings of the activities they were constructed for are essentially the same forces that in recent years have brought millions of Latinos—and others—to this country.
Manufacturers in search of cheap labor moved to other parts of the U.S. and then many send the work overseas. At the same time, globalization devastated local industries and destabilized economies in huge regions of the world, leaving their working people with little choice but to migrate to the U.S. and western Europe.
Community Cinema April Selection The Horse Boy Airs Tonight on Independent Lens
Rowan holds hands with his father while riding together.
Community Cinema’s April selection, The Horse Boy airs nationally tonight on Independent Lens on PBS. (check local listings). The film was such a success at Community Cinema, I wanted to share a few more stories from the events. Tune in tonight.
Regional Outreach Coordinator Cindy Burstein and Co-Coordinator Sara Zia Ibrahimi in Philadelphia, produced a unique event with PBS station WHYY for The Horse Boy.
“On April 21, Station Partner WHYY hosted a screening in Philadelphia. More than 200 people packed the venue, including many parents who are raising children who have Autism. To create engagement opportunities around the screening, ITVS awarded WHYY a Station Outreach grant to support an innovative video project that captures the stories of families with Autism called The Horse Boy Family Media Project. Designed in collaboration with local families affected by autism; WHYY’s Community Relations Department, Learning Lab, and Health and Science Desk; and several local autism organizations, the Family Media Project creates a supportive space for families with Autism to find their own voice. Watch the videos here.”
Producing Partner Emily Tobin in Grand Rapids, Michigan produced an event featuring an author with experience dealing with Asperger’s Syndrome.
“We had an amazing screening! One of our biggest crowds of the year, and a truly great speaker. Liane is a local speaker and author who has Asperger’s Syndrome – as do her father and daughter. She discussed her own experiences at length, especially the difficulties she had with her daughter, who had terrible tantrums, much like in the film. She talked about experiences that her daughter and father had being bullied and beat up as children and for her daughter, even in the first year of college, because of their differences. Liane also discussed her work with a local group who uses horses in therapy with children who have mental and physical disabilities. She spoke of the amazing changes she has seen in these children, as well as adults who have been victims of abuse and violence. We discusses the affect of animals on children with autism, and several people in the audience shared their experiences with family members who are autistic, including siblings and children. It was a very emotional and touching discussion overall, with lots of tears and smiles.
Sydney Meyer our Producing Partner at St. Louis’ KETC TV always packs the house at the beautiful Missouri History Museum.
There was a full house for The Horse Boy event in St. Louis. We had a smaller room than usual at the Missouri History Museum and so we had to keep adding more and more chairs as 160 people flowed in to watch and discuss this wonderfully, touching film. One of the panelists, a professor of film studies, pointed out, ‘This film humbles us because it points us toward what we don’t know. It is an example of a film that is great because it shows us the heart of the filmmaker. It is love in action’. Several panelists who advocated more traditional treatment methods acknowledged that we don’t know all the answers to autism and that what works with some does not work with others. But the best voice of the night was a young autistic man who said, ‘I do not have a disorder. I am uniquely wired and parents should keep trying new ways to open up our world. Mine opened up by typing. But the most important thing to remember from this night is that the world should except all people, however different they are and not separate us from everybody else’. The night ended with applause but the talking and discussing went on as groups filed out of the museum. I’d say that was a successful night!
Michel Orion Scott, director of The Horse Boy
Julie Coan at Producing Partner Houston PBS produced an amazing event at Rice CInema.
“Our screening of The Horse Boy, during Autism Awareness Month, was wonderful. I heard many of the audience members express their surprise that the film was so insightful and poignant, yet real. One audience member said to me that she was surprised by how “non-typical” the film was in that it offered viewers another perspective on Autism. Topics for discussion were varied and had the entire audience raising thier hands and asking questions. On the medical aspect of Autism, Dr. Soares explained the research his institution conducts on Autism and the medical breakthroughs his UT Medical branch is currently making in the field. We also discussed the issue of ‘faith healing’, or alternatives to Western Medicine in the treatment of Autism. What we learned from this discussion was that, while there has been a lot of research done, Autism is still a medical mystery and treatment options have varying success rates, depending on the child. We also discussed the need for adult programs for those with Autism and other Neuro-psychiatric conditions. On the whole, the audience was extremely engaged in the discussion and everyone, including the panelists, thanked us for bringing this topic up for community discussion.”
Community Cinema screens The Horse Boy in Philadelphia
The Horse Boy, (airing Tuesday, May 11 at 10 PM, check local listings) explores one family’s unforgettable journey as they travel halfway across the world in search of a miracle to heal their autistic son. On April 21st, WHYY and Community Cinema hosted a screening of The Horse Boy in Philadelphia. More than 200 people packed the venue, including many parents who are raising children with Autism. To create engagement opportunities, ITVS awarded WHYY’s Learning Lab a grant to support the Family Media Project, an innovative video project that explores how three local families have engaged in their child’s autism diagnosis. Candid and eye-opening, the project not only provides a platform for education but a forum for families to tell their own stories. Parent Bill Zukovsky shares his experience working with the Family Media Project:
Bill Zukovsky with his son Andrew
Wow… What an amazing experience! I couldn’t believe I was going to have a camera on my shoulder and a microphone wrapped around my arm while I tried to capture what it was like to be my son, Andrew. There is no way I would even take a photograph, let alone video tape something that was going to be shown online. What was I thinking taking on this project? But let me tell you something, I’m glad I did.
I got plenty of footage of Andrew in school, playing around the house, and more interviews than I can even use. But what happened next would stay with me for a lifetime. Sitting in the editing room, I got to see the raw footage and what I saw just amazed me. For the first time, I sat back and got to see how other people, both Andrew’s peers and the adults in his life, saw him. How accepting they have become of him and all his quirks, and how he is starting to fit in with the world around him. The longer the editing went, and the more we attempted to get everything under the five minute time limit, the more my chest swelled. Of course, while I’m sitting there barking orders — “No, I don’t like that” … “Cut it here” … “That has to be in there somewhere!” — I’m choking back the tears of joy in seeing my son join a world that I never thought he would enter.
The WHYY Learning Lab creates an opportunity to help others understand what it’s like to be you; your problems, your issues, your trials, and your triumphs. But during the process, I learned a lot, and not just about how to frame a shot or cut a clip. I learned that my son has come a long way in his development. He does have the capability to lead a typical life. He has a lot to offer the people around him and can teach them about patience and understanding. It gives me hope and desire to keep giving Andrew all the opportunity I can to make his life something great.
- Bill Zukovsky, participant in the WHYY Learning Lab’s Family Media Project
The Horse Boy will air nationally on Independent Lens on May 11 at 10:00 PM on PBS (check local listings).
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 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 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.
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.
Q&A with Indie Musician Pat Spurgeon at Community Cinema Screening in Philadelphia
On Wednesday, September 23 at 6:30 PM, the College of Physicians of Philadelphia will host a Community Cinema screening of D TOUR with a special “Skype appearance” afterward by Pat Spurgeon from the indie rock band Rogue Wave.
D TOUR chronicles Spurgeon’s search for a living kidney donor and the challenges with finding a viable match. Learn about the myths and facts of organ donation from a panel of local experts and get a chance to ask Spurgeon questions about his life, what he’s learned and how he’s moving forward. Staff and volunteers from the Gift of Life Donor Program will also be on hand to sign up organ donors and answer your questions.
New Venue Joins Community Cinema Philadelphia
The College of Physicians of Philadelphia joins Community Cinema this season as a venue partner to host our kick-off event on Wednesday, Sept 23rd for D TOUR!
The College of Physicians of Philadelphia, founded in 1787
The College of Physicians of Philadelphia, founded in 1787, is the oldest professional medical organization in the country. Twenty-four physicians of eighteenth-century Philadelphia gathered “to advance the science of medicine and to thereby lessen human misery.” Today, over 1,500 Fellows continue to convene at the College and work towards better serving the public.
The College is home to the Mütter Museum and the Historical Medical Library. Outreach programs include Philly Health Info.org, [external link] an online health information, resource and educational program serving the Delaware Valley, and the C. Everett Koop Community Education Center. The public is invited to attend the many lectures, workshops, and conferences the College offers in support of their mission to advance the cause of health.
In addition to the College, the Gift of Life Donor Program [external link] will be joining us as a community partner. Gift of Life is the non-profit agency serving the eastern half of Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey and Delaware, and responsible for recovering and distributing organs and tissues used in life-saving and life-enhancing transplants.
Founded in 1974 by the Greater Delaware Valley Society of Transplant Surgeons, Gift of Life is one of the oldest and largest of 58 non-profit, organ and tissue procurement organizations in the United States. Gift of Life is part of the nationwide organ and tissue sharing network run by the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS).
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