Screening and World Stroke Day 2018 archive

These are archived posts from October 2018. Older posts on bottom.



October 29 2018

“A Stroke is no joke. It is very spontaneous. Many people could use help during a stroke but do not receive it due to lack of awareness. We can all help each other. All it could take to save a life is one word. Awareness.”

—

John Diodato. 

One of our actors John Diodato who has a disability and played one of the student characters in “A Stroke Of Endurance” wrote this poem for World Stroke Day 2018. John Diodato wrote another poem in honor of “A Stroke Of Endurance” here http://cripvideoproductions.tumblr.com/post/175015670351/a-stroke-of-endurance-it-doesnt-matter-where 

Today October 29th 2018 is World Stroke Day 2018. In appreciation of the stroke survivors who have inspired us such as one stroke survivor who allowed us to interview her personally to ad to the authenticity of Professor Ben’s character, symptoms and recovery process, and other survivors who supported our film “A Stroke Of Endurance” from the very beginning of its creation, Crip Video Productions would like to now be a part of World Stroke Day! If you are reading this: Please learn the signs of having a stroke, including the more subtle lessor known symptoms of stroke, so severe brain damage can be prevented, especially because people do die from stroke. Please be aware that a stroke can happen at any age. Please be aware that a stroke that occurs in the womb or early infancy or early childhood is often diagnosed as “Cerebral Palsy”. In the cases where a person has already had a stroke please be a true friend to stroke survivors you know by supporting them in getting the therapy, and disability accommodations they need to readjust to post stroke life. Treat them like a human being. Listen to them. Have empathy for them, not just sympathy. If you are reading this and have already had a stroke, perhaps most importantly, please know that your life matters! Life can be full and beautiful post-stroke. You can indeed live happily post-stroke. Your opinions matter. There are people on this earth who want you here, and want to help you if you want help.  

To watch “A Stroke Of Endurance” for free with open captions and audio description, and share it with other stroke survivors and their loved ones for World Stroke Day see here http://cripvideoproductions.com/astrokeofendurance.php 

Or simply scroll down on this blog. We hope “A Stroke Of Endurance” can become a great resource for all people effected by Stroke. 

KCC Diversity Festival October 2018

Today(October 23 2018) I was invited back to the Kingsborough Diversity Film Festival for the 2nd time this year to screen “A Stroke Of Endurance” I screened “A Stroke Of Endurance” for the Spring 2018 Diversity Festival in May 2018 http://cripvideoproductions.tumblr.com/post/173972696631/kcc-diversity-festival-2018 I have been a part of the Diversity Film Festival ever since it was conceived of in 2015 http://cripvideoproductions.tumblr.com/post/132124383646/kcc-diversity-film-festival  and it is always an honor to be invited. 

We got the incredible opportunity to screen the film twice back to back today for about 20 or so people each time! The decision to show the film twice was a last minute surprise that was not originally planned. This marks the first time Crip Video Productions has had 2 screenings on a single day! I was thrilled to be able to share the film with so many people! I introduced the film twice saying that the film was semi autobiographical, roughly based on a true story, and that I wrote it because I wanted to show the value of the lives of disabled people and show a disabled female character who grows from her mistakes and experiences. I told them I was glad this festival included both Disability and women’s issues as part of Diversity. Disability is truly the largest minority. 

My actors and I got to do a small Q&A after each showing. One of my actors said my style of directing made it easier for them to make the character they were playing believable. One of the audience members said they never realized the similarity between Cerebral Palsy and Stroke until seeing the film. I told them that physiologically Cerebral Palsy and Stroke are almost the same(lack of oxygen to the brain) and I hoped that people with Cerebral Palsy and Stroke Survivors would work together more on issues related to brain injury and treatments like physical therapy. One audience member asked how I did auditions and we talked about how disabled actors need more opportunities to make media representative of the disabled community through their portrayals. We talked about how some newly disabled people like Stroke Survivors sometimes unfortunately become socially isolated because of lack of accessibility. We talked about a disability not always being outwardly visible. Some of the audience members were physical health and recreational therapy students and told me and the cast that they had not thought of disability much before so the film screening was timely for them. One student said he wanted to do research on disability and I told them to talk to disabled people as part of their research.  

I have full permission from Kingsborough Community College to write this post! Special thanks to KCC!