Europa Newswire
Photo by: Luiz Rampelotto
4 December 2009
By Mary Slosson
New York - The International Day of Persons with Disabilities, observed at the United Nations on 3 December 2009, gave several Brazilian organizations the opportunity to share the work they do year-round to promote the rights and lives of people living with physical and mental impairments.
Brazilian filmmakers Ivy Goulart and
Marcelo Nigri world premiered their film “Beyond the Light,” which
documents the lives of six blind people in Brazil, yesterday at the
United Nations’ Disability Film Festival. The documentary is
about “the experiences of their lives and how they deal with visual
impairment,” according to producer Marcelo Nigri.
“We’ve learned a lot about physical impairments, disabilities, and most importantly accessibility,” said Nigri, “and we realized that giving accessibility to other people gave accessibility to ourselves as well.” He elaborated that, after the experience of making the film and documenting the lives of handicapped people, “something changes in the way you treat other people and the way that you perceive the world.”
Yesterday also marked the debut of the “It’s Normal to be Different, and the Rights are the Same” awareness-raising campaign by the Brazilian-based organization MetaSocial Institute. The organization began raising awareness and understanding of Down’s syndrome, and expanded their attention to all disabilities with their new campaign.
Paula Almeida, strategic coordinator for the organization, said that their outreach is an “interactive and very creative way of calling attention to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.”
The Convention was adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2007. Brazil has both signed and ratified the Convention.
With the film “Beyond the Light”
continuing it’s global tour in Brasilia in the coming weeks and the
“It’s Normal to be Different” website reaching 600,000 visitors,
Brazil’s contribution to the promotion of the rights of disabled people
seems set to expand. As Nigri said, “this is just the beginning.”
For more information, visit www.goulartfilms.com
and www.itsnormaltobedifferent.com
