7/03/2006

Documentary Film Of The Day - How's Your News?

I just saw this film over the weekend. It follows a group of five aspiring news reporters, each with a different disability, as they travel across the country doing "man-on-the-street" interviews with whoever will stop and talk. The members of the "How's Your News?" team include: Susan Harrington, an ultra-professional with a mental disability and sight problems, Ronnie Simonsen, a man with Cerebral Palsy and a vast knowledge of 70's era television, Robert Bird, a man with Downs Syndrome and a speech impediment that makes his speech come out as gibberish, Sean Costello, a man with Downs Syndrome and a love of fried chicken, and Larry Perry, a man with severe Cerebral Palsy who is confined to a wheelchair and cannot communicate beyond hand signals for yes and no. These five individuals met at a camp where they were offered a video class. After getting a hold of some of their tapes, Trey Parker and Matt Stone (of South Park fame), offered to fund this feature film. Their involvement may suggest that this film was in some way exploitative and I'm sure some may think it is. I didn't see it that way, nor did the people involved. This film made me happy. It made me happy that these people were doing something they truly loved. It was also fascinating to see the reactions of the people they interviewed. Some took the easy way out and walked right by. Others would stop and chat about nothing in particular. For more info, go to www.howsyournews.com

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Okay I stared from the top of this blog and now I'm reading down, are you not suppose to do it that way?