Film challenges IQ testing, limits placed on people with intellectual disabilities
Katy, TX – INTELLIGENT LIVES, a documentary by award-winning filmmaker Dan Habib, has its Houston-area premiere at the Alamo Drafthouse La Centerra in Katy, TX on November 13, 2018.
INTELLIGENT LIVES stars three pioneering young American adults with intellectual disabilities – Micah, Naieer, and Naomie – who challenge perceptions of intelligence as they navigate high school, college, and the workforce. Academy Award-winning actor and narrator Chris Cooper contextualizes the lives of these central characters through the emotional story of his son Jesse, as the film unpacks the shameful and ongoing track record of intelligence testing in the U.S.
The documentary will show at 7:30 p.m. at the Alamo Drafthouse in La Centerra. Following the screening, a Q&A discussion focused on “Intelligent Lives” in Our Community will be held including Justin Moehn, Self-Advocate; Mary Jane Williams, Executive Director, Family to Family Network; Kristin Tassin, Esq., Fort Bend ISD Trustee and Mother of a teenager with Down syndrome.
“People with intellectual disabilities are the most segregated of all Americans,” Habib says. “Only 17 percent of students with intellectual disabilities are included in regular education. Just 40 percent will graduate from high school. And of the 6.5 million Americans with intellectual disability, barely 15 percent are employed.”
INTELLIGENT LIVES is a catalyst to transform the label of intellectual disability from a life sentence of isolation into a life of possibility for the most systematically segregated people in America.
Advance registration is strongly encouraged. Go to https://gathr.us/screening/24837 to register and learn more.
Dan Habib is the director and producer of INTELLIGENT LIVES, and the creator of the award-winning documentaries Including Samuel, Who Cares About Kelsey?, Mr. Connolly Has ALS and many other films. Habib is a filmmaker at the University of New Hampshire’s Institute on Disability. His films have been broadcast internationally, nominated for Emmy awards and translated into 17 languages. Habib gave the TEDx talk, “Disabling Segregation” and received the Justice for All Grassroots Award from the American Association of People with Disabilities. In 2014, Habib was appointed by President Obama to the President’s Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities.