Heavy Load, directed by Jerry Rothwell, 2008
Heavy Load are Lewes answer to the Ramones, a punk outfit subject to the inflammatory mix of ego, fantasy, and desire that fuels any emerging band. Theyre also, uniquely, made up of musicians with and without learning disabilities, which makes the bands survival a precarious negotiation between two different worlds: on the one hand the institutional timetable of day centres, work placements and social workers; on the other the chaotic slacker life of rehearsal rooms, studios and gigs.
Shot over two years as the band record their first album The Queen Mothers Dead, the film is a comedy of
conflicting ambitions, capturing the sweat and romance of playing in a band as they move out of the ghetto
of disability club nights to test whether their dreams can survive in the mainstream.
http://www.heavyloadthemovie.com
See What I'm Saying
The Deaf Entertainers Documentary
Deaf people can do anything but hear. But an all deaf rock band? An international deaf comic famous around the world but unknown to hearing people? A modern day Buster Keaton who teaches at Juilliard but is currently homeless? A hard of hearing singer who is considered "not deaf enough?"
SEE WHAT I'M SAYING follows the journeys of four extraordinary deaf entertainers over the course of a single year as their stories intertwine and culminate in some of the most important events of their lives.
Upcoming screenings: a 25 city tour in USA from February 2010.
For more information: http://www.seewhatimsayingmovie.com
Still Life Moving, film directed by Paul Zetter
Documentary
An ensemble films production
The aim was to build self-esteem, team spirit and communication skills amongst local disability self-help group members through photography, community engagement and national exposure.
This film is Huong's story."
Born On A Blue Day Born On A Blue Day
A Memoir of Asperger's and an Extraordinary Mind
Daniel sees numbers as shapes, colours and textures and can perform extraordinary maths in his head. He can also learn to speak a language fluently from scratch in a week. He has Savant Syndrome, an extremely rare form of Asperger's that gives him almost unimaginable mental powers, much like the Rain Man portrayed by Dustin Hoffman.
Daniel has a compulsive need for order and routine - he eats exactly 45 grams of porridge for breakfast and cannot leave the house without counting the number of items of clothing he's wearing. If he gets stressed or unhappy he closes his eyes and counts. But in some ways Daniel is not at all like the Rain Man. He is virtually unique amongst people who have severe autistic disorders in being capable of living a fully independent life. It is his incredible self-awareness and ability to communicate what it feels like to live in a unique way that makes his story so powerful.
Touching as well as fascinating, Born On A Blue Day, explores what it's like to be special and in so doing gives us an insight into what makes us all human - our minds.
"This remarkable book provides deep insight into a unique mind"
"This book is a must read for anybody who is interested in how the mind works."
Temple Grandin, author of Animals in Translation and Thinking in Pictures
For more information about Daniel Tammet: http://www.optimnem.co.uk/about.php
Making an Entrance: Theory and Practice for Disabled and Non-Disabled Dancers
by Adam Benjamin
The first practical introduction to teaching dance with disabled and non disabled students, written by one of the leading practitioners in the field. A thought provoking and hugely enjoyable manual, essential reading for all those addressing difference through the medium of dance.
The book explores how improvisation can be better used to meet the evolving needs of dance education and includes over 50 exercises designed to stimulate and challenge students at all levels. The theoretical sections delves into the history of a 'dis-integrated' dance practice, placing it within the wider context of cultural and political change. The author also questions what is meant when we talk about 'inclusive' or 'integrated dance' - and what we might expect of it. Includes useful information on the practicalities of setting up workshops, covering issues of class size, the safety aspects of wheelchairs and the accessibility of dance spaces. Now a set book on numerous university courses across the UK.
Seeing Voices, written by Oliver Sacks
With Seeing Voices, Dr. Sacks launches on a journey into the world of the deaf, which he explores with the same passion and insight that have illuminated other human conditions for his readers everywhere.
Seeing Voices begins with the history of deaf people in the United States, the often outrageous ways in which they have been seen and treated in the past, and their continuing struggle for acceptance in a hearing world. And it examines the amazing and beautiful visual language of the deaf--Sign--which has only in the past decade been recognized fully as a language--linguistically complete, rich, and as expressive as any spoken language.
The existence of this unique alternative mode of language, writes Dr. Sacks, has wide-ranging implications for those in the hearing world as well, for it "shows us that much of what is distinctly human in us--our capacities for language, for thought, for communication, and culture--do not develop automatically in us, are not just biological functions, but are, equally, social and historical in origin; that they are a gift--the most wonderful of gifts--from one generation to another....The existence of a visual language, Sign, and of the striking enhancements of perception and visual intelligence that go with its acquisition, shows us that the brain is rich in potentials we would scarcely have guessed of, shows us the almost unlimited resource of the human organism when it is faced with the new and must adapt."
"A remarkable book, penetrating, subtle, persuasive....[It] will likely become a classic."
Keith W. Spoeneman, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
