DIFFERENT FROM WHAT? FILM FESTIVAL

LEST WE FORGET: SILENT VOICES
(USA, 2008) Director: Mark R. Lyons
Documentary, English, 43 minutes, captioned, visual description
Student Entry

SYNOPSIS
Lest We Forget is a powerful and empowering first-person story of people with developmental disabilities — then labeled “mentally defective” — who were sent away to state institutions. The life-long impact of institutionalization is described not only by those who spent decades in these human warehouses, but also by the parents and siblings left behind, and the pioneering professionals and advocates who put their own lives and careers in jeopardy to bring about change.

These are stories that happened throughout America — and only a few decades ago. The film is an important and unusual effort to record and preserve these recollections of a little-known part of the civil rights movement before they are lost to history.

FROM THE DIRECTOR
"I am a filmmaker. In an America increasingly dominated by Brittany Spears, Brangelina, and other trivialities that pass as news, documentary filmmaking becomes more important than ever before. I believe it is immoral, in the truest sense of the word, for us to avert our gaze in the service of our own escapism from reality. On the contrary, we must look, we must listen, we must respond.

My work, often difficult and challenging, insists on shedding light on the realities that I believe we need to confront--not only because these social realities require attention, but because by confronting these social realities, we gain the capacity to reconnect with the most profound human impulses within us. Lest We Forget, five years in the making, is an examination of Ohio's incarceration of the mentally handicapped, forces us to remember a sad component of Ohio's history; in so doing, it invites us to reconsider also the ways in which our culture today may be failing to respond to our social needs. As a filmmaker, I hope my own work can help to inspire us to act in ways, which can effect significant change and make the kind of difference that 'America's Funniest Videos' and 'Entertainment Tonight' never could. "

REVIEWS
"A well-crafted, eye-opening piece about man's disregard for fellow human beings. The stories and images will stick with you." - Jonathan McNeil, Neon Movies

“Moving first-person accounts of those who lived forgotten and cloistered away in state institutions, and their struggle to come out of the darkness and into the light as contributing members of society. Lest We Forget is a compelling testament to the human spirit, and to the movement to gain civil rights for people with disabilities. Both haunting and inspiring, it gives voice to those who have been silenced for far too long.” - David R. Hopkins, President, Wright State University

FESTIVALS, SCREENINGS & AWARDS
Festivals/Screenings: Premiere, Wright State University to an audience of over 700 people; Sinclair Community College; Neon Movies; National Underground Railroad Freedom Center; Sprout Film Festival; New York Metropolitan Museum of Art
Awards: Inclusion Network Leadership Award, Sprout Film Festival (2008); Ohio Public Images, Award of Excellence

THE PRODUCTION TEAM
Director: Mark R. Lyons