INTERVIEW: New documentary explores ‘Intelligent Lives’
Photo: Filmmaker Dan Habib of the University of New Hampshire Institute on Disability recently released his new documentary, Intelligent Lives. Photo courtesy of film’s press kit / Provided by press rep with permission.
Dan Habib’s new film, Intelligent Lives, follows the lives of three people — Micah, Naieer and Naomie — as they embark on different journeys in high school, college and the workforce. They have intellectual disabilities and face stigma from a society that second guesses their potential.
Academy Award winner Chris Cooper narrates the film and also provides personal anecdotes about his own son, Jesse, who had cerebral palsy.
The result of these interviews and explorations is a 71-minute film that pushes for acceptance, conversation and inclusion. Intelligent Lives leaves a lasting impact and attempts to redefine the measures of intelligence in the 21st century.
Recently, Hollywood Soapbox exchanged emails with Habib about the new documentary. Questions and answers have been slightly edited for style.
How did you get Chris Cooper attached to the project?
Eight years ago my wife, Betsy McNamara, and I were given an award by the Federation for Children with Special Needs in Boston for my first film, Including Samuel, which focuses on my son, Samuel. Chris Cooper and his wife, Marianne Leone Cooper, had created a scholarship through the Federation in the name of their late son, Jesse. We sat together at the same table that night, and as we shared stories of our children and families, we realized how much we had in common.
Samuel, like Jesse, has cerebral palsy and uses a computer mounted to his chair to communicate. Both Jesse and Samuel also have navigated a world where they are easily underestimated and often deemed unintelligent just because they used wheelchairs and could not speak fluidly. All four of us are advocates for inclusion education and disability rights, motivated by our shared belief that our children belonged in regular classrooms alongside their peers, learning the regular curriculum. …
When I started working on Intelligent Lives, I realized that the film would need to include a backstory: the sordid history of intelligence testing in this country, which was one of the factors that led to the mass institutionalization and forced sterilization of tens of thousands of people with disabilities in the 20th century. Chris and his powerful voice and presence was a perfect fit for that narration. He immediately agreed to volunteer his time for this project, and both he and Marianne also came on board as executive producers.
As we got into production, I re-read Marianne’s beautiful book, Jesse: A Mother’s Story. Marianne, Chris and I realized that Chris’ telling of their own experiences with their son, Jesse, could be an important component of the film. Early viewers have told me that Chris’ emotional and honest descriptions of Jesse’s life, and of the impact Jesse had on his peers, are some of the most powerful scenes of the film.
What do you hope the audience learns after watching these 71 minutes?
The central premise of the film is posed early by Chris Cooper. He asks, ‘Can any attempt to measure intelligence predict a person’s value or ability to contribute meaningfully to the world?’ If viewers examine that question, I think the film will raise expectations for people with intellectual disabilities — throughout our society.
Most people are unaware that students with intellectual disability are being fully included in high schools and colleges in hundreds of communities across the United States. Employers may not know that people like Naomie, Naieer and Micah can thrive in the workplace. By meeting Micah, Naomie and Naieer, Intelligent Lives will show millions of viewers the power of opportunity and high expectations. …
I understand that IQ testing is intended to be just one tool in an overall assessment process that includes many other qualities and measures, but I speak with hundreds of families and educators all over the country. And their experience is that the IQ score is the measure that carries more weight than any other.
A few points on the score can be the difference between segregated education or inclusive education. I have a family member that teaches in a large school district. Just this year, she asked why some students with disabilities in the district were in inclusive classrooms while other students with disabilities were in a separate, self-contained special education school. The principal told her that the kids given the opportunity for inclusion had an IQ score of 55 or above. The ones in the separate school had an IQ score below 55.
How did you find the three central characters?
Once I had Chris Cooper on board to tell the critical historical backstory of intelligence testing and disability rights, I needed to find film subjects who would be the paradigm shifters for viewers. And I wanted to capture the lives of paradigm shifters in three critical contexts: high school, college and career.
The central characters in the film embody high expectations and possibility.
I met Micah Fialka-Feldman when I visited Syracuse University to show one of my previous films. Micah is a student at Syracuse University with a vibrant social life, a job co-teaching university classes, a sophisticated grasp of social media — and his IQ was determined to be 40, which just shows the absurdity of the scores.
I learned about the Henderson School in Boston on a previous film shoot about inclusive education, so when looking for an inclusive high school, I went back to Henderson and quickly met Naieer. I didn’t need to look any further. Naieer is a talented visual artist, immersed in general education classes and basketball games at a public high school in Dorchester, Massachusetts. He lives with autism, limited verbal language and has behavior challenges.
The third subject was the toughest to find. I wanted to show someone transition from a ‘sheltered workshop’ (a segregated work setting for people with disabilities, where they often make sub-minimum wage) into competitive, integrated employment. After months and months of networking and researching, I found Naomie Monplaisir in Providence, Rhode Island. Naomie’s high school housed a sheltered workshop, where she was forced to do menial work for little or no pay for years. She is now working in her first paid job, and her co-workers can tick off the many tangible ways she improves the workplace. She has Down syndrome and limited ability to communicate.
All three of them, along with Chris’ very personal and emotional telling of his son’s story, make people question the meaning and relevance of both IQ scores and the label of intellectual disability.
How were you changed while making this film?
If I’m to be totally honest, even though I’m the parent of a child with significant physical disabilities, my expectations for people with intellectual disabilities were too low. Exploring the lives of Micah, Naieer and Naomie raised my own awareness and appreciation for the wide range of possibilities for people with a label of intellectual disability. I was not aware that there are thousands of college students with intellectual disabilities at nearly 300 universities and colleges across the U.S. …
Why do you feel there is such a stigma and stereotype concerning people with intellectual disabilities?
Any group that has lived on the margins of our society is seen as ‘the other.’ There is not another group of Americans that are as systematically segregated and underestimated in modern day society as people with intellectual disabilities. … And the IQ test continues to serve as a measuring stick in 49 of 50 states (Iowa being the lone exception) that can determine which students can learn alongside their peers and which will be segregated.
Imagine your whole educational path being determined by a couple of points on an IQ score and being segregated from all the other students in your community. How could you not be stigmatized and treated as the ‘other’?
Our society has a very narrow definition of what it means to be ‘intelligent,’ and that definition often excludes people with disabilities. My son, Samuel, is a recent high school graduate and is taking college classes. But people often talk to Samuel like he’s 3 years old — because he doesn’t fit their vision of what it means to be ‘intelligent.’
Educators, parents, and disability rights leaders have told me similar anecdotes, convincing me that this narrow perception of what it means to be ‘intelligent’ may be the single greatest barrier for people with disabilities.
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Intelligent Lives is now playing in New York City. There will be a screening and discussion with Habib and Micah Fialka-Feldman Wednesday, Sept. 26 at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. More screenings are scheduled for October, and communities can also host screenings. Click here for more information.
