Filmmaker Statement

I first saw Anne selling her artwork at a market. As a female artist raised by a painter, I couldn't help but be in awe with her work and curious about how she was able to paint despite her very visible disability. The fact that she was non-verbal and I was extremely limited in my experience communicating with people with disabilities, kept me from approaching her for months. When I finally worked up the courage to speak to her, I realized my hesitations were all unfounded. Anne's personality was larger than life and we hit it off right away. My aim is to surprise some into realizing they harbor limiting assumptions about what living a life with a disability looks like. The story is meant to encourage the viewers to be brave enough to deconstruct the parts of themselves that allow a disability to define a person and be bold enough to discuss it.