Based on a true story: Four young students from a school for the blind embark on an odyssey from their remote village in Tibet to the giant city of Shenzhen in order to sing on a TV talent competition.
Accessibility aids thanks to support from Alliance Bernstein.
Filmmaker Bio
Zhang Wei was born in the Hunan Province of China, and he studied directing at the Beijing Film Academy and Cinema Studies at the Chinese National Academy of Arts. To date, he has directed five features including Beijing Dream (2010) and Shadow Puppet Show of One Person (2011), both of which received acclaim from critics. His third feature Factory Boss (2014) has been shown at numerous festivals, and it won the Best Actor Award at the Montréal World Film Festival and the Fajr Award for best original screenplay at the Fajr International Film Festival. His fourth feature Destiny (2016) won the Best Actress Award and the Best Actor Award at the New York SR Socially Relevant Film Festival. Ballad From Tibet is his fifth feature and won the Best Children’s Feature at the China International Children’s Film Festival in November 2017.
DJ Savarese (“Deej”) finds comfort in words, as expressed by his poetry, spoken through a text-to- voice synthesizer. Adopted by a loving and supportive family, Deej navigates the college admissions process as a young adult on the autism spectrum, while confronting obstacles to inclusion.
Filmmaker Bio
Robert Rooy is an independent filmmaker who has worked in more than twenty countries, creating media with and for international development, human rights and environmental organizations. His encounter with Muhammad Yunus, founder of Grameen Bank in Bangladesh and winner of the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize, led to producing and directing To Our Credit, a two-part PBS series that aired in 1998. In addition, he has worked as an assistant director on more than forty films, including Lonesome Dove, Honeymoon in Vegas, Minority Report and The West Wing. He holds an MFA degree from Yale School of Drama, a Distinguished Alumnus Award from Calvin College, and a National MediaMaker Fellowship from the Bay Area Video Coalition.
David is an upper-class charmer struggling to hide his high-functioning autism. Forced by his parents to attend Connections, a support group for people on the autism spectrum, David falls in love with Sarah, a sheltered young woman who challenges his identity as “normal.”
Winner, Best U.S. Narrative Feature and Best New Director, 2017 Tribeca Film Festival
Accessibility aids thanks to support from Hunton & Williams, LLP with Audio Description provided by Woman of Her Word.
Ryan combines his loves of photography and urban exploration, documenting abandoned buildings in Winston Salem, North Carolina.
Miami is a city known for its sports and diversity. For the Miami Heat Wheels, it is a city of opportunity, second chances, and a call to win—against all odds. The Rebound follows the underdog journey of this wheelchair basketball team, as they strive for a national championship. This remarkable documentary delves into each player’s tribulations and examines how the sport turned strangers on the verge of losing hope into brothers. It is a story of unwavering resolve and a testament to our innate ability to engage with life’s toughest challenges, including those beyond what meets the eye.
An inventive animated and live action documentary about autism and sensory perception. Featuring Temple Grandin
Larry and Sophie are in love. What could be more natural for them than to want to be alone, together? They bribe their feckless caretaker to book them a hotel for an afternoon. But Larry and Sophie aren’t any couple—they both have intellectual disabilities, and by attempting to be intimate, they’re breaking the law in Ireland. While Larry and Sophie try to figure out their feelings, their future, and how to use a condom, their friends from the training center escape the not-so-watchful eyes of their caretakers and go on a joyful rampage through Galway. Both hilarious and heartbreaking, Sanctuary is a truly subversive piece of cinema about two young people trying to be together, in a world doing everything to keep them apart.
A strong-willed man with a stutter resolves to win his son’s respect by speaking to the boy’s class on Career Day.
What would you do if your community gave up on your child? In New Jersey, the parents of one boy with autism take matters into their own hands. They form a competitive swim team, recruiting a diverse group of teens on the autism spectrum and training them with high expectations and zero pity. Demonstrating the power of inclusion to transcend disability, this triumphant film profiles this team, the Jersey Hammerheads. Through training and competition, star athletes Mikey, Robbie, Kelvin, and others gain self-confidence and social skills that serve them both in and out of the pool.
The story of a group of young actors who dare to mount La Cucarachita Mandinga, a classic Panamanian play. The actors, who have Down syndrome, lack prior stage experience, but plan to put on the first inclusive play ever staged in Central America. We follow them as they work together to memorize lines, learn choreography, and challenge the public. This documentary explores the artistic process as well as these young people’s intimate world: their fears, their hopes, and their daily struggle for the adventure of their lives.
