Post-screening dialogue with co-director and producer Jamila Ephron, Ece Demir-Lira (Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences at University of Iowa), and Katie Tsilosani (Owner, Director, and Lead Teacher at Purple Bloom School).
"Far From the Tree offers inspiring glimpses of the breakthroughs that can happen when people hang in long enough to come to terms with life's most sobering realities, be they anatomical or emotional. And it provides welcome ways to reframe notions of normality that are too often conflated with "average." One of the great gifts of Far From the Tree is simple visibility, whereby viewers are given the opportunity to watch people live their lives, share their wisdom and flourish within the loving care of their families and friends. Fair warning: by the end of Far From the Tree, tears will be shed, and for all the best reasons."
- Ann Hornaday, Washington Post
OFFICIAL SELECTION: DOC NYC, Montclair Film Festival, International Film Festival Boston
Discover the courage of compassion through the eyes of parents journeying towards acceptance of their one-of-a-kind kids. Based on the New York Times bestseller by Andrew Solomon, Far From the Tree is an intimate, profoundly human look at families raising children society deems "abnormal": a mother and son determined to show the world that his Down syndrome does not define him; a couple learning to communicate with their bright but nonverbal autistic son; a young woman dealing with what it means to be the only little person in her family; and parents whose deep love for their son persists even after he has committed an unspeakable crime. Tracing their joys, challenges, tragedies, and triumphs, Far From the Tree invites viewers to rethink what it means to be a "normal family."
Jamila Ephron is the producer and co-director of Far from the Tree. Most recently, she was co-director and producer of Woodstock: Three Days that Defined a Generation for American Experience. Her other work includes the Emmy and Peabody-winning My Lai, The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln and Clinton, each for the American Experience series on PBS, as well as Makers: Women who Make America and Cancer, based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning book, The Emperor of All Maladies. Jamila worked on the American Experience and FRONTLINE co-production The Mormons.
Ece Demir-Lira is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences at University of Iowa. She received her PhD from the University of Chicago and completed her postdoctoral work at Northwestern University. Her research examines why some children, often from disadvantaged backgrounds, fall behind their peers in academic achievement while others thrive. Her work combines behavioral methods that illuminate children’s home experiences with neuroimaging measures that reveal the neurocognitive basis of children’s academic performance.
Katie Tsilosani is the Owner, Director, and Lead Teacher at Purple Bloom School. Before Purple Bloom School emerged, Ms. Katie owned and operated her in-home child care including Purple Bloom Preschool for 14 years. She spent that time studying the philosophies of Play Counts®, Heather Shumaker, Dr. Shinichi Suzuki, Handwriting Without Tears®, Get Set for School®, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Reggio Emelia, Magda Gerber, Janet Lansbury, Rudolf Steiner Waldorf Method, and Dr. Maria Montessori
Presented as part of Science on Screen® - An initiative of the COOLIDGE CORNER THEATRE, with major support from the ALFRED P. SLOAN FOUNDATION.
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