Fall 2012

The Council for the Study of Disability, NYU is proud to co-sponsor the screening of two films at the Annual Margaret Mead Film & Video Festival

November 29 to December 2 All screenings are held at the American Museum of Natural History. See below for information about tickets and the location.


A Life Without Words

(Una Vida Sin Palabras) Adam Isenberg, 2011, 71 min, Nicaragua U.S. Premiere

two females talking in chairs

Quiet yet profoundly provocative, this is a haunting story of two siblings born deaf in rural Nicaragua. Dulce Maria (28) and her brother Francisco (22) have never strayed more than a few miles from the farm where they were born.

With no written, spoken, or signed language, the siblings were never exposed to the traditional modes of communication and learning others take for granted. When a Deaf NGO worker arrives to try to teach them their first words, the unsettling drama that unfolds poses difficult questions about the meaning and nature of language, of aid work, and of documentary film.

Sunday, December 2 6:00 pm; Filmmaker in attendance


Keep Me Upright

(Tiens Moi Droite) Zoe Chantre, 2012, 64 min, France U.S. Premiere

illustrating on graph paper

Diagnosed as a child with scoliosis and a large angioma of the left brain, conditions that prevented her from carrying anything heavy and caused ophthalmic migraines, Chantre found solace in creative expression—first in drawing, and eventually in filmmaking.

The product of five years of collecting, recording, and editing images, this autobiographical film incorporates collage and animation to showcase a wholly unique voice and fresh visual style. Addressing her delicate, poignant, and very personal subject matter with humor and spirit, Chantre has produced a beautifully realized and original debut that marks her as an extraordinary emerging talent.

Friday, November 30 6:30 pm


For all Mead programs enter at 77th Street between Central Park West and Columbus Avenue

Order Tickets:

By Phone: 212-769-5200
Online: www.amnh.org/mead
On-site: During Museum hours at the Advance Group Sales desk in the Theodore Roosevelt Rotunda (Central Park West at 79th Street entrance), and at the Rose Center for Earth and Space (81st Street entrance)

To view the festival’s full schedule please visit www.amnh.org/mead.

The 2012 Margaret Mead Film & Video Festival, the longest running showcase for international documentaries in the United States, celebrates 36 years!

American Museum of Natural History

Central Park West at 79th Street

New York, New York 10024

www.amnh.org


NIGHT SKY

Directed by artist Alison O’Daniel Will Screen at NYU on October 1 at 5:30pm Tisch/Cinema Studies Room 670 Sponsored by the NYU Council for the Study of Disability

two girls standing in desert

Night Sky is the story of two friends and their journey through the desert into a synesthetic realm of the senses. The film utilizes the language of cinema to enact a sensory experience on its viewers, drawing on the spectrum of viewing experiences that range between Deaf and Hearing.

  • Live sign-score by Lisa Reynolds
  • Discussion with Director Alison O’Daniel
  • Moderated by Mara Mills (Media, Culture and Communications)
  • Co-sponsored by the Center for Media, Culture and History and the Department of Cinema Studies

Words Night Sky in golden glitter letters

Night Sky is a 75-minute narrative film parallels overlapping stories: the unplanned desert journey of two girls and a group of contestants in a current-day dance marathon. Through a hovering hula-hoop portal the two stories connect where sounds and characters overlap.

abstract image of bright circles

Composer Ethan Frederick Greene, Los Angeles based pair Lucky Dragons and avant-garde percussionist Evelyn Glennie, link the two locations through their music, connecting a narrative that unfolds through multiple modes of dialogue and explores meta-communication. Either a sign language interpreter or musicians accompany the film with a live soundtrack or sign, enhancing the audiences’ typical experience.

black and white photo of hand holding

Night Sky premiered in Nov 2011 at the Anthology Film Archives in New York as part of an exhibition at Art in General gallery in conjunction with Performa 11. Starting Sept 2012, Alison O’Daniel embarked on a nation-wide film tour with Lisa Reynolds, a performer and sign language interpreter who crafted the original Sign-score. They stopped at 9 venues across the country. NYU was their last stop on October 1, 2012.

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