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Documentary
on Adults with
Disabilities
By Julia
Segrove
"Life Itself", a documentary by Todd Herman and Francis
Kohler screened at the Koret Auditorium, Thursday, December
6, at 6:00 p.m.
The 53 minute documentary, made on a shoe string budget of
$20,000 by filmmakers Todd Herman and Francis Kohler,
profiles three artists, Michael Bernard Loggins, Sue Chan
and Allura Fong, at Creativity Explored of San Francisco, an
art center for adults with disabilities. Herman and Kohler
&endash; who produced the work under the auspices of their
company Life Like Films have created a poignant,
entertaining portrait of three artists and their efforts to
make art on their own terms.
Inspired by their work at Creativity Explored, where Herman
and Kohler work as facilitators, the two men began the
project in 1996, when they were developing "Love to Me", a
film about what love means to people. However, as they began
interviewing potential subjects at Creativity Explored, they
decided to change the focus of the piece and to profile the
lives of Loggins, Chan and Fong and the process by which
they create art.
"Life Itself" premiered at the California College of Arts
and Crafts in October, and is slated to screen at several
venues within the next few months, including a screening at
The Exploratorium in January and the Red Vic Movie House in
February 2002.
For more information on Todd Herman and Francis Kohler's
films visit their website at www.lifelikefilms.com. For more
information about Creativity Explored, a non-profit
organization that supports and nurtures expression through
visual art and writing among people with disabilities, visit
www.creativityexplored.org.
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