MEDIA UPDATE:  CABLE NETWORK WILL EXAMINE DISABILITIES IN FILM
Exciting news from the Turner Classic Movie network:"
A month-long film series on cable this fall will focus on people with disabilities as portrayed by Hollywood.

Turner Classic Movies will air more than 20 films harkening from the 1920s to the 1980s during the month of October that include storylines about those with disabilities, the network said Tuesday.

Films included in the series will touch on everything from the experiences of those with intellectual disabilities to psychiatric disorders. Some like “An Affair to Remember,” which deals with paralysis, and Oscar-winner “Charly,” which focuses on a man with intellectual disability who is turned into a genius, are well-known classics while others featured are likely to be less familiar.

All of the movies will be offered with closed captioning and audio descriptions via secondary audio to ensure accessibility for viewers with sight or hearing impairments, officials said.

“From returning veterans learning to renegotiate both the assumptions and environments once taken for granted to the rise of independent living, Hollywood depictions of disability have alternately echoed and influenced life outside the movie theater,” said Lawrence Carter-Long of the National Council on Disability who curated the series for TCM. “When screened together, everything from ‘The Miracle Worker’ to ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest’ reveals another layer where what you think you know is only the beginning.”

Since 2006, TCM has dedicated one month each year to focus on a particular issue and how it’s been depicted in film. Previous series have looked at the experiences of people from various racial groups as well as the gay and lesbian community.

The series dubbed “The Projected Image: A History of Disability in Film” will air Tuesdays in October beginning Oct. 2 at 8 p.m. ET."


More awareness being built...always a good thing.


“Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass. It's about learning how to dance in the rain.”--Vivian Greene