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Synopsis
of Without Apology (73 minutes) |
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In
the early 90's, I set out to do what families fear the
most — to tell the world, in my case through a
video documentary, our most protected secret. "Well,
you've certainly dropped a bombshell," my mother
said, after a long pause, when I told her my intention.
The secret was my brother, Alan, who in 1950 was born
with striking blue eyes and a brain so severely damaged
he would never develop the ability to speak. |
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Alan
became a secret suddenly. In 1958, he was sent to live in
Letchworth Village, a state-run institution for people with
mental retardation. And after that day, almost all mention
of him within the home virtually ceased. |
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The
shroud of secrecy that surrounded Alan's disappearance has
prompted the filmmaker to probe delicately but persistently
beneath the surface of the family's silence: to find answers
to why and how Alan's placement occurred, and why so much
was left unsaid. |
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And
uncovering Alan's story and the reasons for the taboo uncovers
a small trove of buried history, both public and deeply personal.
Public includes the medical theories which blamed a woman
for her child's autism, the institutional framework, which
placed these large complexes for the developmentally disabled
in isolation, miles away from urban centers, a shocking Geraldo
Rivera expose of conditions within the institution; accompanying
these was a world of shame, which prevented an entire family
from ever mentioning the existence of their child. |
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Without
Apology travels an historical sweep, charting the gradual
changes in all these systems. After the relatively recent,
radical overhaul of perceptions of people with mental retardation
and the intervention of the civil rights movement, Alan is
emerging as a member of his family, and of the world. And
although he cannot speak, his oddly appealing presence weaves
together the narratives of his family, friends and staff. |
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Told
from Alan's sister's point of view, and with stylistic inventiveness,
Without Apology traces the transformation which took
place for the other members of the family as well; it was
a gradual change, which paralleled the closing of the institution
and Alan's second placement — this time to a group home,
a suburban split level with seven other men. |
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This
documentary fully reflects this history in the faces and words
of the filmmaker's family members, challenged to reassess
Alan's place in their lives. Her mother can claim that she's
"come out of the closet." (And once she recovers
from the "bombshell," she applauds her daughter/filmmaker
for making their family "secret" the subject of
a film.) When Alan lived at Letchworth, they shunned public
spaces. They now walk with him down crowded streets and into
restaurants. But the road isn't always easy. Without Apology
is Susan Hamovitch's attempt to reclaim her family's past,
finding, in the process, a tangle of family shame, social
history, and ultimately a new, unique relationship with her
brother. Sometimes shattering, sometimes touching, always
honest, it's a story that can only be told now that Alan can
be seen...without apology. |
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