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it's a little hard to explain this but
when you have a son with
A disability
that connection can become very, very intense
And I think what is so well portrayed in the film
A father can be worrying
Day in day out
About, what if I'm not here?
You know, am I...
is my son gonna be independent, is he
Gonna be able to take care of himself? Is he gonna have a good life?
Is he gonna have a connected life with other people?
And in a lot of ways
you're helping your son
But your own spirit
Your relieving so much in your own spirit because your spirit becomes so
Closely connected
with your child
And that has
A lot of positive things but there are some other aspects of it which
you know, other siblings can feel and that are
Involved in the whole
The whole thing but
In this film, it was so powerful the way it started off
It started off with
the father and the son connected
With a rope
And the father is
Going to commit
suicide with son without really
Consulting with the son
But in goodness of spirit,
Worried about his son
And what would happen if he's not there
there's also another aspect in that
Which as a father you can really feel
your spirits are so connected
That it is almost
Hard to go on to eternity without your son
so I think that may have been an aspect of that also in that incredibly
Powerful scene. It is the concern, Jason's gonna talk about this a little bit also
Sort of in the back of my life And my mind all the time
Is my son going to have a good life? Is he going to take care of himself?
But it is important also to have some perspective about
the capabilities of the people that you're with in this relationship.
And, so Jason is going to talk a little bit about that.
Just a little bit about Jason. He was born in 1988
He had neurological delays
he started walking slowly
And talking
He had trouble with his midlines
But these were all developmental
things he's worked very ***,
These developmental issues
He's come a tremendous long way. He also has
Worked on social skills and he went
To a typical school starting off
He then went to a school
For kids with disabilities but not particularly Non-verbal kids,
disabilities aspect, Aspergeris-type, social disabilities.
And then he went to a boarding school in Connecticut for three years
which helped him understand his limitations
but also his capabilities to really understand himself and how to advocate for himself
All relationships are different
and I really would be
doing a disservice here
just talking about our particular relationship
because every disability is different
every person is different
and that's the beauty of humanity
That is a lesson that can seep in to
your very existence
through these types of
relationships
But our relationship has been
very much I think has been
not necessarily about doing
it has been a lot about being
and our common connection, our common spirit
Jason has brought an incredible amount into my live
my life
I have never heard him complain about the weather.
I have never heard him complain about a place.
I've never heard him say he's having a bad day.
and most importantly I've never, ever
heard him say a bad word about another human being.
In a lot of ways
I've learned a lot
He's really taught me
a lot about my humanity
About expectance
and about the appreciation of our differences
and about how important that is
I just want to add on one thing
because of how important that is to me
It's off topic, so Anita is probably
going to get mad at me
I was asked by the forward about we are so passionate
about sponsoring
ReelAbilities
and I just wanted to tell a little story quickly
Our foundation honors
all traditions, all religious traditions
we honor all people
But there is a story in the Jewish tradition that has been always very close to me
In the passover story,
there is a part in that story
About Elijah
opening the door
It's a really
interesting thing, in the Passover story you're supposed to open the door
and tell Elijah to come into your house
And when you think about it, Elijah is a total stranger
somebody totally different
somebody
you don't know anything about
and you're allowing that person into your home
the bigger story about Elijah was
Elijah,
traveled the world, although he was a prophet,
he traveled the world as a beggar.
The story is that
when a person, or when people
were able to accept him,
people would be ready for salvation.
I am very passionate about bringing this film festival to people
because I think it is a mirror to our soul.
I just want to end quickly with
Thank you for allowing us to be here
Thank you for having your spirits connect with ours
Thank you New york, and thank you ReelAbilities.
Thank you for having us tonight and congratulations to the Giants for winning the Super Bowl
I've been to New york many times,
but this is probably my favorite time
to be able to connect to all of you by one great cause
I think this film shows two great dichotomies and opinions and it shows the goodness that can come
in connection between a father and a son
but it can also show the sort of relationship that comes
with the sort of growing that needs to be done
with people...
when there is a disability...
sometimes our fears can over come us
when we focus on what we can't do
instead of focusing on what we can do
and that happens in a lot of situations
It is not just with disabilities, but it seems to happen more often with disabilities.
I think that's important to realize because everyone has capabilities
and everyone has things that they're not that good at
that doesn't mean that we should be held back by anything
we should be able to focus on
people's strengths.
And I think this movie shows this a lot, that when the father was very worried,
the son was not able to be as productive. but when the father
was able to stand back, and sort of let things happen the way they were going to happen,
the son was able to move forward. It's tough. As much as a love my family and as supportive as they've been,
and they have been very supportive, sometimes,
the sort of fears that they have, also come to you.
Where it's hard for you to be able to do things,
The fears that they have, they don't really see that you know what's going on.
Like when the father was talking about him trying to kill himself
in the room with the
ants and the
I mean,
the son was right there
I've had that situation where people don't realize, and it's a little bit frustrating
and it doesn't mean that people don't care, people do try
but it's a little bit tough
I think in the end
- one more thing -
We have to all be able to listen to people
and be able to hear where their perspectives come from
Everyone has some awareness of what's going on
they're able to tell you how they feel
and being able to listen to someone is an important thing.
I think we should all be able to listen to each other
and appreciate what we say
and I think that sometimes that doesn't always happen.
If we could just open up our ears and our hearts
we would be able to see each other for who we truly are
and the abilities that we have and that we
should focus
on the abilities
not on
what we can't do
Thank you so much. Thank you both for joining us. I'm sure this conversation could go on for a while but
I'm sure people want a little nosh and something to drink.
The diversity that we present here
in our program
and with our
audiences
This is all really amazing. This week we have films from
Iran and from Israel. Documentaries,
features, and every kind of topic you can imagine.
We look forward to seeing you this week. Thank you Jeffery and Jason and thank you all for joining us. Help yourselves to the lobby for a special reception and I look forward to seeing you.