Two moving documentaries about folks outside "the norm" turn up on HBO this month. Each film is upbeat without being saccharine.
Together, they underscore the value of human differences, the challenges of being a parent and, in fact, the heroism involved in being an active, engaged human.
"Monica & David," about two people with Down syndrome who fall in love, airs Thursday at 7 p.m. on HBO. First-time filmmaker Ali Codina followed the couple — her cousin Monica Walters and Monica's fiancé, David Martinez — in the weeks before their wedding and through their first year of marriage. The couple's love is apparent; their obstacles in daily life are daunting.
The camera catches heartwarming scenes at the rehearsal dinner but also expressions of fear and worry on the part of the family about whether these adults with Down syndrome will always be children. The pair end up living with the bride's family, still sorting out how much independence and privacy they can handle.
Humanizing the experience of Down syndrome, exploring how it feels from the inside out, the film breaks boundaries. Of course, it's ultimately about love and humanity more than disability. (The film won best documentary feature at the Tribeca Film Festival.)
Coming Oct. 26, "I Can't Do This But I Can Do That" is about kids with learning difficulties, specifically turning the lens on Denver Academy. The Colorado Children's Chorale also takes a bow.
Endearing kids, teachers and principals explain how, once different styles of learning and processing information are considered, kids can succeed.
Director-producer Ellen Goosenberg Kent, winner of Emmy and Peabody awards for various documentary works ("I Have Tourette's but Tourette's Doesn't Have Me") here offers an encouraging view of what can be accomplished when differences aren't written off as faults.
Call them differences, call them difficulties — just don't call them disorders. As John, 12, comments, "It's not a learning disorder, it's a learning difference. If people think you have a disorder, their expectations drop tremendously. I can do better than that."
The film, premiering Oct. 26 on HBO, features eight kids who were dismissed as unteachable, who turn out to have gifts as artists, poets, dancers and more. The voices of the kids carry the story, and they give a black eye to those insensitive mainstream teachers who indelibly hurt their feelings by insulting their abilities and intelligence.
"I feel kinda like discarded," says John of his diagnosis of attention deficit disorder, sensory processing disorder and dysgraphia (a learning disability resulting in a difficulty with handwriting).
"They had taught me the way they learn, not the way I learn," explains 9-year-old Abby.
Having found a supportive environment at Denver Academy, "now I express myself a lot more," says Lauren, 14.
The tone is more than hopeful. It's uplifting.
The Thursday-night network comedy battle is on: the reigning No. 1 comedy, "Big Bang Theory" on CBS, last week drew three times as many viewers as "Community" on NBC. Meanwhile "(Bleep) My Dad Says" on CBS scored twice as many viewers as "30 Rock" on NBC.