I’ve attended the Sundance Film Festival for 15 years, now, and every year brings me a favorite moment, or two. This year, I seemed to have a zillion: I got to hang out with Paul Rudd at the premiere party for his film, The Fundamentals of Caring.
Chatting with Paul Rudd at his premiere party at the Acura Sky Lodge.
Eddie the Eagle stars Hugh Jackman and Taron Egerton visited the Park City Nordic Ski Club jumping practice at Utah Olympic Park. I witnessed an awesome Q&A with the stars and filmmaker of Life, Animated.
But one of the coolest moments was the least expected. I arrived at my reserved seat (thanks to the publicist for the film) at the premiere of The Fundamentals of Caring, only to be joined moments later by the author of the book on which the film was based, and then discovered that my nearest seatmates were given VIP tickets in the waitlist line. “This is the best day of my life!” one of them said. “These seats are the BOMB.” To me, that’s the essence of Sundance—folks who are fans of film who would have been thrilled with any seat, being treated like VIPs. (Later, during the Q&A, they realized the woman who had given them the tickets was a producer of the film. Class act.)
But the reason I saw these films, in particular, was because I had a very a cool assignment, writing a guest post for Love That Max, about the way films give us a window into the world of people with special needs. Watching these films offered me a reminder of the strength and resilience that lies within all of us—it’s just a question of how we choose to use it that determines our success. It’s one of my favorite pieces, to date, and I’d love for you to read it, and let me know what you think. Oh, and if you’re so inclined, please share it.
Source: Love That Max : 5 things I learned about people with disability watching new movies
Bari Nan Cohen 
Really nice piece, Bari Nan, I thoroughly enjoyed it!
The only thing I would change is to say “treat persons with disabilities with equity” vs. The same as others. Those that require accommodation sometimes need to be treated differently in order to be brought to an equal playing field – equitably vs. equally. Of course, I understand the specific context in which you mean the comment. All good! 🙂
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Anita, Thanks for the great comment. I mentioned to a friend that I struggled mightily with verbiage on this one. I was surprised that my first draft had some accidentally insensitive language, usually because I was aiming for an economy of words. The language of inclusion doesn’t come naturally, I learned, but can be acquired without too much difficulty. I definitely appreciate what you’re saying, here. Thanks for being part of the conversation. 🙂
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Glad to lend an ear any time, Bari Nan! It is an important part of my role at ARES Staffing Solutions to work with clients around accommodating and hiring persons with disabilities. And you’re right — when one cares and makes attempts to learn, things come along quite nicely. Great to read your piece, you are educating people and are making a difference! All the best, Anita
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