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Exploring Motherhood: Navigating the Journey of Disability
October 20, 2023 @ 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm EDT
Join us for an evening of honoring motherhood & disability with filmmakers Nöelle Gentile, Michael Mejia, & Victoria Kereszi, and storyteller Bethany Van Delft. The short film Between Us and feature documentary film Into Loving Hands will be screened, followed by a panel discussion about motherhood, choice, giving birth and advocating for a child with disabilities and medical complexities in a society that was not built with them in mind.
Sponsored by iEAR Presents! and the School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences at RPI, and made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature. Co-sponsored by The Arc NY, The Doula Network of the Capital Region, and The People’s Health Sanctuary. Curated by Branda Miller.
Into Loving Hands: In the fall of 2012, Chris and Rebecca Williams were thrilled to be expecting a second child, but halfway through their pregnancy at a routine ultrasound, they discovered that prenatal testing indicated that something was terribly – fatally – wrong. The couple, staunchly pro-choice, was subsequently faced with momentous decisions as they grappled with the hand they’d been dealt while also trying to navigate both the medical community and society.
This film chronicles four years of the Williams’ journey, from their initial grief to the unexpected miracle of life, the midwife’s exam room to the pediatric OR at Boston Children’s Hospital, capturing the emotional challenges and triumphs of what it’s like to raise a child with Down Syndrome and multiple heart defects.
EVENT PHOTOS:
FILM MAKER & PANELIST BIOS:
Victoria Kereszi – Director of Into Loving Hands
Originally from Media, Pennsylvania lives in Upstate New York with her husband and 2 daughters. Before moving upstate studied film with Sam Pollard, Lora Hayes and George Stoney. In NYC she worked for community television and curated a women’s experimental and documentary series titled Eye AM: Women Behind The Lens. Shortly after moving to Troy and as an MFA student at RPI she completed a documentary triad about three elderly women, one of which was her grandmother who ran a junkyard in Chester, Pennsylvania.
Victoria began filming Into Loving Hands one year after having her daughter and receiving prenatal and postpartum care by Michelle Doyle, Rebecca’s midwife.
Noëlle Gentile – Co-Director & Writer of Between Us
Gentile is a director, acting coach, and artist educator. She has worked as an acting coach with filmmakers and producers such as Adam Sandler, Jeremiah Zagar, and Jingyi Shao. Most recently, she was the acting coach on the films Shooting Stars (adapted from the 2009 book by LeBron James and Buzz Bissinger), You Are SO Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah! (directed by Sammi Cohen and starring Adam Sandler), Ava DuVernay’s film, Origin, and on Netflix’s Rez Ball, written and directed by Sydney Freeland. Noëlle has also worked as an artist-educator for Youth FX; Arts, Letters & Numbers, the NYC Department of Education’s Theatre Program; City College of New York; and Brooklyn College Film School. She is currently an adjunct professor for the Maurice Kanbar Institute of Film and Television at NYU Tisch. Noëlle is in post production for her directorial debut, I Was Here, based on her family’s story.
Michael Mejia – Co-Director, Director of Photography, & Editor of Between Us
Michael is an educator and filmmaker with a concentration in documentary, music videos, and narrative films. He has been an educator in several organizations throughout Albany NY including; The New York State museum in 2009, The Liberty Partnerships Program in 2011, and has been a part of Youth FX since 2010, currently serving as the creative director of Rogue FX films, teaching and directing. Michael has also been the director of photography on several short films. He received a Bachelors in Fine Arts from Pratt Institute and plans to continue to learn, educate, and create for years to come.
Bethany Van Delft – Comedian & Storyteller
Bronx-born Bethany Van Delft moved to Boston with her Marxist Dutch dad, black Puerto Rican mother and siblings, where she learned being called “zebra” did NOT mean she was weird but cool. At “19” she went to Paris to model, got kicked out, and ended up in Milan where she spent Sundays sitting on the ground in front of Duomo, eating gelato and speaking Spanglish with an Italian accent.
iEAR Salon is sponsored by iEAR Presents! and the School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences at RPI, and is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.
We are committed to lowering the barriers to access for events at The Sanctuary for Independent Media. For people who are hard of hearing or deaf, blind or low-vision, or whose physical limitations can interfere with a satisfying experience, let us know two weeks in advance so we can make appropriate arrangements.
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