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Rachel Is


RACHEL IS
(USA, 2003) Director: Charlotte Glynn
Documentary, English, 67 minutes

SYNOPSIS
In her feature directorial debut, Charlotte Glynn moves home to chronicle her sister Rachel's last year in school. Rachel, her only sibling, is mentally retarded. The resulting film, Rachel Is, moves past the safety of political correctness in presenting Rachel's disability and into the most intimate and sensitive areas of their family's life. Rachel is mysterious, funny, and difficult and wants what any person her age would want--to move out of her mother's house. Unfortunately, Rachel can't be left alone and the social services needed for her to live an "adult life" are unavailable, making her dream of independence seem impossible.
Rachel's mother, Jane, is at her breaking point. Rachel is a difficult person to live with and the relationship between mother and daughter has become strained. With Rachel's future uncertain, their day-to-day lives are filled with fighting and frustrations. Both women want independence from one another, but at what cost? What is Jane willing to sacrifice for Rachel to be independent? What happens to a parent when they don't have the support they need to give their child a good life?
In this observational style documentary, Glynn answers many of these questions while capturing the most raw and revealing moments of Rachel and her mother's relationship. She dives into her family's life in order to understand how Rachel sees the world and how the world sees her. As a result, Rachel Is is an honest, heartbreaking, and funny film about parenthood, disability, and the universal struggle for happiness.

FROM THE DIRECTOR
"For a long time, Rachel was just my annoying, sometimes funny, always embarrassing, retarded sister. It wasn't until I was in film school that I really started to think about her as an actual person. I was taking a documentary class and had an assignment to make a portrait. My first subject--a lobster fisherman in Maine--fell through, so I decided to make the film about Rachel instead.
Spending time with Rachel (as opposed to avoiding her) in the company of my crew and friends made me see her in a different light. When I stopped ignoring her and watched her through the camera, I saw what other people saw--a beautiful, funny, and mysterious young woman who wanted to move away from home, hated our mom telling her what to do, and liked to be in control of everything. She was very similar to me. At the end of that school year, I had finished the film; but I remained intrigued by my sister. Making the short had presented me with so many unanswered questions about my only sibling.
After I graduated from college, I struggled to save money so that I could travel. I was broke, living in New York in the dead of winter, and feeling pretty useless, when I got an e-mail about a job working as a nanny in Italy for a young girl with Down Syndrome. I was hired. Fourteen days later I was in Italy, learning first-hand what my mom's life was like trying to raise Rachel as a single parent. It was the hardest job I've ever had, and as I saved money and worked on scripts, it became clear that my next film had to be a feature film about Rachel.
Making Rachel Is has been more than just making a film. We spent so much time together over the last five years that it gave us the chance to have a relationship. I have come to understand her better and become her advocate. But the best part is that we both got the chance to do what we loved. I got to make a movie, and she got to be the star and tell everyone what to do. It was a true partnership."

FESTIVALS, SCREENINGS & AWARDS
Festivals: Aseville Film Festival; Sacramento Film & Music Festival; Kos International Health Film Festival; Rome International Film Festival, GA; 3 Rivers Film Festival; New Filmmaking DocuFest, Atlanta.

THE PRODUCTION TEAM
Featuring: Jane Bernstein, Rachel Glynn

Producer/Director: Charlotte Glynn
Producer: Henry J. Simonds
Director of Photography: Eddie Martinez
Editor: Brian Cassidy
Additional Editing: Tova Goodman, Eddie Martinez
Additional Camera: Charlotte Glynn, Peter Gelles, Fred Roth, Eric Pfriender

Sound Recording: Chris Strollo, Mark SW
Associate Producer: Tanya Deangelis, Lindsey Braun
Sound Edit and Mix: Margaret Crimmins, Greg Smith
Mixed at: Dog Bark Sound
Original Music: Greg Smith

WEBSITE
http://www.jacktarfilms.com/