> >Rarely in the history of media has a documentary >captured the authentic voices of disability >leaders as they reframe the debate on the >disability rights movement in America. This >October 27 premiere of Lives Worth Living >coincides with National Disability Employment >Awareness Month, and gives “Independent Lens” a >whole new meaning as this film recalibrates the >focus that chronicles the Independent Living Movement. >This film is for everyone with – and without - >disabilities. We encourage students to watch >and discuss in school; employees to watch (with >their Employee Resource Groups); families to >experience it with friends. Blog about it, talk about it. >Let PBS know this is the kind of authentic programming that is important. >Lives Worth Living IS the film worth watching! > >Lead On..... > >Tari > >Tari Hartman Squire, CEO >EIN SOF Communications, Inc. >"We Mean Business" >11601 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 500 >Los Angeles, CA 90025 >310-650-0595 - mobile >310-473-5954 - office >Tari@EINSOFcommunications.com > > > > >FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT >Voleine Amilcar, ITVS 415-356-8383 x >244 >voleine_amilcar@itvs.org >Mary >Lugo >770-623-8190 >lugo@negia.net >Cara >White >843-881-1480 >cara.white@mac.com > >For downloadable images, visit >http://pressroom.pbs.org > >LIVES WORTH LIVING Premieres on the PBS Series INDEPENDENT LENS >Thursday, October 27 at 10 PM During >National Disability Employment Awareness Month > >Powerful Documentary Chronicles the History of >America’s Disability Rights Movement > >While there are over 54 million Americans living >with disabilities, Lives Worth Living is the >first television history of their decades-long >struggle for equal rights. Produced and directed >by Eric Neudel, Lives Worth Living is a window >into a world inhabited by people with an >unwavering determination to live their lives >like everyone else, and a look back into a past >when millions of Americans lived without access >to schools, employment, apartment buildings, and >public transportation – a way of life >unimaginable today. Lives Worth Living premieres >on the Emmy® Award-winning PBS series >Independent Lens, on Thursday, October 27, 2011 >at 10 PM (check local listings) to coincide with >National Disability Employment Awareness Month. > >Lives Worth Living traces the development of the >disability rights movement from its beginning >following World War II, when thousands of >disabled veterans returned home, through its >burgeoning in the 1960s and 1970s, when it began >to adopt the tactics of other social movements. >Told through interviews with the movement’s >pioneers, legislators, and others, Lives Worth >Living explores how Americans with a wide >variety of disabilities ­ including blind, deaf, >physical, intellectual and psychiatric ­ banded >together to change public perception and policy. >Through demonstrations and legislative battles, >the disability rights community finally secured >equal civil rights with the 1990 passage and >signing into law of the Americans with >Disabilities Act, one of the most transformative >pieces of civil rights legislation in American history. > > >[] > > > > > > >[] > > >[] > > >To learn more about the film, and the issues >involved, visit the film’s companion website at >www.pbs.org/independentlens/. >Get detailed information on the film, watch >preview clips, read an interview with the >filmmaker, and explore the subject in depth with >links and resources. The site also features a >Talkback section, where viewers can share their ideas and opinions. > > >About the Participants, in Order of Appearance >Fred Fay, early leader in the >disability >rights movement (1944 – 2011) >Ann Ford, director of the Illinois National Council on Independent Living >Judy Heumann, leading disability rights >activist, Co-Founder of World Institute on Disability >Judi Chamberlin, Mental Patients Liberation >Front, a movement for the rights and dignity of >people with mental illness (1944-2010) >Dr. William Bronston, former staff physician at >the notorious Willowbrook State School who was >dismissed after agitating for change >Bob Kafka, established ADAPT of Texas, a >disability rights advocacy organization >Zona Roberts, counselor, UC Berkeley's >Physically Disabled Students’ Program and Center >for Independent Living, Berkeley; mother of >disability rights pioneer Ed Roberts >Pat Wright, Former Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund >John Wodatch, Former Chief, Disability Rights >Section, Civil Rights Division, U. S. Department of Justice >Jack Duncan, Former Counsel, U.S. House of Representatives >Mary Jane Owen, disability rights activist, >philosopher, policy expert, and writer >Marca Bristo, CEO, Access Living of Metropolitan >Chicago, former chair of the National Council on >Disability, and leader in the disability rights movement >Michael Winter, Former director, Berkeley Center for Independent Living >Lex Frieden, Former director, National Council >on the Handicapped (now National Council on Disability) >Dr. I. King Jordan, President Emeritus, Gallaudet University >Jeff Rosen, alumni leader, Gallaudet University >Senator Tom Harkin, (D-Iowa), co-author of the ADA >Bobby Silverstein, Former Chief Counsel, Senate >Subcommittee on Disability Policy >Richard Thornburgh, U.S. Attorney General, 1988-1991 >Tony Coelho, Former Congressman (D-California), >House Majority Whip, 1986-1989, author of the ADA >Justin Dart, leader in the disability rights movement (1930 – 2002) > >About the Filmmaker >Eric Neudel (Producer/Director) has produced, >directed, and edited numerous award-winning >films for public television. His many credits >include Eyes on the Prize, AIDS: Chapter One, >LBJ Goes to War, Tet 1968, Steps, After the >Crash, The Philippines and The US: In Our Image, >Body and Soul, and more. He was a visiting >senior critic and lecturer in film at Yale >University and served as producer, director, and >editor for Harvard University’s Derek Bok Center >for Teaching and Learning, and Spectrum Media’s >program series on the art and craft of teaching. >Neudel was also a photographer and video >production consultant, teaching video production >to a team working for the Compass Project in >Malawi. Photographs from his two years in Malawi >were exhibited in the Sandra and Phillip Gordon >Gallery at The Boston Arts Academy in October 2007. > >He also served as story consultant for Row Hard >No Excuses, an award-winning documentary about >two middle aged American men who set out to >cross the Atlantic in a rowboat. Most recently >he served as a photographer in Rwanda for The >Boston Globe, where he directed, produced, and >edited a companion documentary about the >Maranyundo Middle School, which was built on the >site of one of the worst concentration camps and killing fields in Rwanda. > > >About Independent Lens >Independent Lens is an Emmy® Award-winning >weekly series airing Thursday nights at 10 PM on >PBS. The acclaimed anthology series features >documentaries and a limited number of fiction >films united by the creative freedom, artistic >achievement, and unflinching visions of their >independent producers. Independent Lens features >unforgettable stories about a unique individual, >community or moment in history. Presented by the >Independent Television Service (ITVS), the >series is supported by interactive companion >websites and national publicity and community >engagement campaigns. Further information about >the series is available at >www.pbs.org/independentlens. >Independent Lens is jointly curated by ITVS and >PBS; it is funded by the Corporation for Public >Broadcasting (CPB), a private corporation funded >by the American people, with additional funding >provided by PBS and the National Endowment for >the Arts. The series producer is Lois Vossen. > >### > > > >