Indie Lens Pop-Up in Partnership with The Arc Tennessee brings a FREE Nashville Screening of Mini and Dona with a panel discussion following on November 20.
“Heart-wrenching. The film is as unflinching as it is beautiful, chronicling difficult decision-making that comes to involve the whole extended family.” — The New York Times
What happens when love runs out of time? For 92-year-old Mimi, who has spent her life caring for 64-year-old Dona, a daughter with an intellectual disability, it means facing the inevitable — the likelihood that she will not outlive her daughter and the need to find her a new home. This poignant, heartbreaking, and sometimes humorous documentary traces the story of a wonderfully quirky and deeply connected mother-daughter duo — filmmaker Sophie Sartain’s grandmother and aunt. Mimi and Dona premieres on Independent Lens Monday, November 23, 2015, 9:30-10:30PM CT (check local listings) on PBS.
Npt’s Nashville screening begins at 6:30 p.m. Partnering with The Arc Tennessee and following the film screening, there will be a facilitated panel of family members sharing their experiences of aging and supporting a loved one with IDD. This event is free and open to the public.
“Mimi and Dona shows us what long-term care-giving looks like through the intimate, compassionate lens of filmmaker Sophie Sartain and her family,” said Lois Vossen, executive producer of Independent Lens. “More than ever, people from all walks of life are struggling with this issue, trying to find the best ways to care for their aging or disabled family members. There are no easy solutions, but by bravely telling her own family’s story, Sartain’s film asks us to consider what happens to the most vulnerable when their families cannot care for them. And is there something our society can do to help those facing these most difficult of choices?”
The mother and daughter’s story speaks for the millions of families struggling with these issues. An estimated 4.6 million Americans have an intellectual or developmental disability and these individuals are living longer than ever before. And more than 75% of them live at home with family. What happens to people like Dona when aging family members can no longer care for them?
WHAT: FREE screening of Mini and Dona followed by a panel discussion.
PRESENTERS: Nashville Public Television and ITVS Indie Lens Pop-Up
PARTNER: The Arc Tennessee www.thearctn.org
WHEN: Friday, November 20, 6:30 pm
WHERE: Watkins College of Art, Design & Film, 2298 Rosa L Parks Blvd. 27228 – Free parking on campus lot
Visit Mimi and Dona on pbs.org (http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/), which features information about the film.
About the Filmmaker: Sophie Sartain (Director/Writer/Producer) is an award-winning writer for print, film, television, and digital media. Sartain’s credits include the 2012 documentary Hava Nagila (The Movie) (writer/producer), the 2014 documentary Above and Beyond (writer) and the 2008 film Blessed Is the Match: The Life and Death of Hannah Senesh (writer/co-producer). Sartain’s past positions include executive director of editorial services for MGM Home Entertainment and managing editor of Sony Online Entertainment. She has contributed as a writer on several film and media projects, including In the Matter of Cha Jung Hee (PBS/POV) and The Rich in America (A&E). As a grant writer, she has raised more than $1 million for documentary projects. In 2011, her grant proposal for a PBS documentary on photographer Dorothea Lange was awarded a prestigious NEH production grant. As a freelance writer, her clients have included Los Angeles Magazine, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, Universal Studios, New Line Home Entertainment, CBS Sports Radio, and ABC Radio Networks.
About Indie Lens Pop-Up: Indie Lens Pop-Up is a neighborhood series that brings people together for film screenings and community-driven conversations. Featuring documentaries seen on the PBS series Independent Lens, Indie Lens Pop-Up draws local residents, leaders, and organizations to discuss what matters most, from newsworthy topics to family and relationships. Make friends, share stories, and join the conversation. Can’t attend in person? Find Independent Lens on Facebook for information on our online Pop-Up events.
About Independent Lens: Independent Lens is an Emmy® Award-winning weekly series airing on PBS Monday nights at 10:00 PM. The acclaimed series features documentaries united by the creative freedom, artistic achievement, and unflinching visions of independent filmmakers. Presented by Independent Television Service, the series is funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people, with additional funding from PBS and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. For more visit pbs.org/independentlens. Join the conversation: facebook.com/independentlens and on Twitter @IndependentLens.
About Nashville Public Television: NPT, Nashville’s PBS station, is available free and over-the-air to nearly 2.4 million people throughout the Middle Tennessee and southern Kentucky viewing area, through its main NPT and secondary NPT2 channels, and to anyone in the world through its stable of NPT Digital services, including wnpt.org, YouTube and the PBS video app. The mission of NPT is to provide, through the power of traditional television and interactive digital communications, high quality educational, cultural and civic experiences that address issues and concerns of the people of the Nashville region, and which thereby help improve the lives of those we serve. Join the conversation at facebook.com/nashvillepublictelevision and on Twitter @npt8.
NPT’s Indie Lens Pop-Up series continues through May. Screenings are held at the Nashville Public Library’s main branch. Information about our 2015-2016 Indie Lens Pop-Up season can be found here: bit.ly/NPTindiepopup2015. [The series also includes Autism in Love, scheduled for Sat. Dec. 5, 2 PM, free at the Downtown Nashville Public Library.
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~Above source: NPT and Indie Lens Pop-Up.
I blogged about Mimi and Dona two weeks ago. Unfortunately, the story of Mimi and Dona is very real for us. I am grateful for the opportunity to bridge my work and passion as a multi-genre artist and ARTism agent for my daughter, Grace Goad, with our disAbility community. But, my greatest concern is that this film will be shown largely to an audience of “us,” the disAbility community. Film is art that communicates story through sound and visual. Thus, the medium is universal. This film is for everyone. Especially. Please come to this free Nashville viewing or watch in your town if it is shown there, or look for it on your PBS station. And, please share this link. We need people to be aware that diversity and injustice go beyond color and gender orientation. We live with systemic and cultural barriers of disAbility everyday. We need you to care about our collective community story. Thank you.
