28 August 2002
The Office on the Status of Disabled Persons in the Presidency is proud to announce the selection of three of our documentaries for screening at the Jozi Summit Film Festival. Pushing the Odds, Love is not Blind and Pankie and Jones will be screened at Nu Metro, Village Walk on August 31 and September 1 at 9h30. All films are free and open to the public. The films from the People Unlimited series were produced by the OSDP last year as part of an initiative to raise public awareness about disability. The documentaries consist of life stories of people with different disabilities.
Negative attitudes continue to be a great stumbling block to the full integration of disabled persons in society. Other events run by the OSDP during the World Summit on Sustainable Development includes an art exhibition, Beyond Barriers, opening on August 29 at the JHB art Gallery by Minister Pahad and screenings at The Women of the Sun Film Festival on August 30 at the People's Library.
For more information on the Jozi Summit Film Festival, visit the website at www.jozi.co.za
SYNOPSIS:
PANKIE AND JONES
The story about Pankie and Jones is about friendship, perseverance and hope. As Jones puts it, "The poorest man on earth is not a man without a cent but a man without hope."
Jones Modjadji and Pankie Sebake are old friends. Jones was an activist who now relies on crutches following his detention and torture in the 80's. Pankie is a quadriplegic who has barely left his home for the past 12 years.
When Jones stood as a candidate in the local government elections in December 2000, Pankie was determined to go out and vote for his friend in the hope that he will put the rights of people with disabilities on the agenda.
We follow Pankie's quest for a wheel chair, which includes writing to celebrities like Denzel Washington and Nelson Mandela explaining his situation and asking for help in obtaining a wheelchair. It soon becomes apparent however that there are no resources for people with disabilities in wherever he lives.
When Jones wins the election, Pankie attends his victory party on December 3, the International Day for the Disabled. Jones offers Pankie his wheelchair so that Pankie can get out more often. The documentary reveals how the love and support of friends and family can make the world of difference to the lives of people.
Pankie and Jones is directed by Sibongile Mtshontshi and is in Tswana and English.
LOVE IS NOT BLIND
What is it like to gradually lose your eyesight and how would you cope if it happened to you? Most people do not think about disability, but it could happen to anyone. It happened to Lydia who gradually lost her eyesight. She shares her experiences of blindness and how she had to learn to live with it.
She takes us back to her early school experiences in the Northern Province and confronts the abuse and neglect she suffered, and she details some of the abuse, which children at schools experience even today. But she's also soft and caring, and, together with her boyfriend Cuthbert who has albinism, shows us that being disabled does not rule out being in love.
Lydia says, "It upsets me that people assume that blind people or any person with a disability is seen as someone who should not be involved in a relationship."
Love is Not Blind is directed by Beathur Baker and is in North-Sotho, Venda and English
PUSHING THE ODDS
Mackson lives in a small rural village near Tzaneen in the Northern Province. He will be twenty-five on 6 March 2001. Like many rural places across the country, nothing much happens in his village. There is not much to do and very few opportunities. Like many youth in rural areas across the country, Mackson tries to make a life for himself and earn a living by running his own spaza business at the local taxi rank.
Unlike many youth in the country, Mackson has cerebral palsy. This does not stop him from dreaming of finishing matric, completing a business course and owning his own supermarket. It is hard and he goes for days without selling anything, but his mind is sharp and his spirit is strong.
He leads a group of people with disabilities from the area that is starting a business selling chickens and indulges in his passions of soccer and church. He believes strongly that children are gifts from God, including children who have disabilities.
Pushing the Odds is directed by Khalo Matabane and is in North Sotho and English.
Issued By: Office on the Status of Disabled persons
The Presidency