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Body & Soul: Diana & Kathy, directed by Academy Award-nominee Alice Elliott, is a look at an unusual, symbiotic relationship between two people some would call profoundly disabled.
Two of the country's most remarkable advocates for people with disabilities, Diana Braun, who has Down Syndrome, and Kathy Conour, who has cerebral palsy, met three decades ago and vowed to fight to live independent lives. Told in an intimate, verite style, the film is a story of a compelling, creative friendship, as Diana and Kathy model a grand experiment in independent living.
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Highly Recommended. At first glance, Body and Soul: Diana and Kathy seems like any other well made documentary about the courageous lives of two disabled women in a unique situation. Kathy has severe cerebral palsy and her caretaker of 38 years, Diana, has Down Syndrome. As their individual stories unfold, filmmaker Alice Elliott seamlessly morphs a typical inspirational piece into the quintessential disability rights film.
As we get to know Kathy and Diana, how they met, their family backgrounds and growing up in an America even less attuned to the disabled than we are today, we soon see how they complement each other. Like anyone else, they have experienced life's joys, traumas, and excitements, both because of and in spite of their disabilities. Kathy's intellect and emotional presence enmesh with Diana's physical abilities, each strengthening the other's weaker areas to create a team that allows them to not only survive, put thrive independently. Their situation beautifully illustrates the importance of independent living for the disabled. Their ability and fierce desire to remain in their own home is palpable as they fight to keep state institutions for the disabled closed in Illinois. The interplay between them is astonishing, and at the same time completely understandable. Disability rights activists for over 35 years; these two extraordinary women truly are, as Diana says at the end of the film, body and soul for each other.
One of the hallmarks of a fine piece of art, no matter the medium, is that it makes you think about it long after the initial contact. Elliott does just that in this film, brilliantly chronicling the perfect duo to champion this cause, resulting in an inspiring, humbling, and educational film. She accomplishes what good documentary filmmaking should-an emotional bond with the subjects and a desire to help their cause. While it will find a place in academic library collections supporting disability studies and rehabilitation, social work, and related health sciences fields, most everyone will benefit from viewing Body and Soul: Diana and Kathy."
Lori Widzinski, Health Sciences Library State University of New York at Buffalo Educational Media Reviews Online
Awards:
AAIDD Media Award (2007) Henry Hampton Award for Excellence in Film & Digital Media TASH Positive Images in Media (2007) Best of Festival Award (Superfest XXVIII) Crystal Heart Award (2007 Heartland Film Festival) NAFDMA Insight Award for Excellence (2007)
Nominations:
IDA Short Documentary Award (2007) American Library Association's Notable Videos for Adults
Alice Elliott Body & Soul: Diana & Kathy and the Academy Award nominated The Collector of Bedford Street. Alice also produced the award-winning documentary Diamonds in the Rough, about the inner city baseball team of George Washington High School in Washington Heights, Manhattan. It was screened at the Denver International Film Festival, Taos Talking Pictures, San Antonio, Wine Country and Columbus Film Festivals. It won First Place Documentary at the South Beach Film Festival, a National Educational Media Network Award, and a Chris AwardShe co-produced Grist for the Mill that aired on Cinemax, June 1999. She wrote for the Nickelodeon series, Are You Afraid of the Dark? and her three plays for young audiences have been published and produced in New York City and around the country. She teaches for NYU's Tisch School of the Arts and the NYU School of Continuing and Professional Studies. She has produced radio commercials, CD-Roms, and played a role for 10 years on ABC's Loving. As an actress she appeared in two feature films, and over 100 TV commercials before going behind the cameras. She is a former board member of New York Women in Film and Television. www.welcomechange.org.
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The Collector of Bedford Street is an Academy Award® nominated short documentary that follows Larry Selman, the film maker's 61 year old developmentally disabled neighbor.
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