Concord Rotary Grant Helps Bring the Film 'Including Samuel' to Concord Schools
By Matthew Gianino, Institute on Disability / UCED
June 11, 2008
The Institute on Disability (IOD) at UNH has received a $2,500 grant from
the Rotary Club of Concord to support screenings of the film “Including
Samuel” and free dissemination of the educational version of the film
throughout the Concord school district.
More than 70 staff from three Concord schools attended the first screening
on May 15 at Red River Theatres in Concord. Additional screenings for staff
and students are being planned for the fall.
These screenings are part of the IOD’s Inclusive Communities Project,
a program that leverages the IOD’s expertise and the new documentary
film “Including Samuel” as resources to promote greater acceptance
and inclusion of children with disabilities in schools and communities. “Including
Samuel” filmmaker Dan Habib left the Concord Monitor in April to join
the IOD as filmmaker in residence and as director of the Inclusive Communities
Project.
“The Rotary Club of Concord is proud to support the Institute on Disability’s
Inclusive Communities Project and the ‘Including Samuel’ program
for the Concord School District,” said Kim Burgess, chair of the community
support committee of the Rotary Club of Concord. “One of the guiding
questions that we must ask for all of the Rotary’s service activities
is ‘Will it be beneficial to all concerned?’. ‘Including
Samuel’ boldly yet poignantly examines a very difficult topic and subsequently
benefits all of us. Those with disabilities can learn so much for others, and
more importantly, those without disabilities can truly realize the abilities
of those with disabilities.”
“It isn’t often that we experience something that profoundly moves
us and elevates our entire perspective about what it means to be human,” said
Dorinda Gibney, professional development coordinator for the Concord School
District and one of the organizers of the May 15th screening. “’Including
Samuel’ did exactly that for me. I'm very much looking forward to helping
bring Samuel’s luminous story to the rest of the district.”
Before his son Samuel was diagnosed with cerebral palsy, Habib rarely thought
about the educational inclusion of people with disabilities. Now he thinks
about inclusion every day. Shot and produced over four years, Habib's award-winning
documentary film “Including Samuel” chronicles the Habib family’s
efforts to include Samuel in every facet of their lives. The film honestly
portrays his family’s hopes and struggles as well as the experiences
of four other individuals with disabilities and their families. “Including
Samuel” is a highly personal, passionately photographed film that captures
the cultural and systemic barriers to inclusion in schools.
Since the film debuted in November 2007, “Including Samuel” has
been screened at universities, national conferences, film festivals and independent
theatres across the country. The film has also been featured on National Public
Radio’s All Things Considered, as well as in the Washington Post and
the Boston Globe. Exceptional Parent Magazine called it a “must see” film.
For more information on the Institute on Disability and the film “Including
Samuel”, please visit www.iod.unh.edu.
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