Theme: Autism & Conflict
After a month off for good behaviour (?!), Citizen Autistic returns in once more to the realm of the digital with another watch along film viewing experience.
In acknowledgment of the one-year anniversary of the war in Ukraine (Russia first launched its invasion on 24 February 2022), this is an online ‘watch along’ session of scathing documentary Not Forgotten: The Untold Story of Autism in Ukraine (2013), on Thursday, 23 February at 8-9:15 pm.
Run time: The total runtime comes to 1hr, 03 minutes.
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***Watch2gether: ***We will be using the Watch2Gether platform starting 20:00 finishing by 21:15. Please feel free to join at any time, though the films will be played promptly.
Link: The link will be updated on the main event page and emailed out to all Members who RSVPD 24 hours before the start date, so do keep a close eye on your Meetup/inbox!
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NOT FORGOTTEN Synopsis: To give it its full title, ‘Not Forgotten: The Untold Story of Autism In The Ukraine’ is a revealing, no holds-barred documentary exposing the scandalously misinformed, backward attitudes of Ukrainian society towards those on the autism spectrum.
As the strap line goes, “Nothing in Ukraine seems the same from day to day. As the cold winds blow, so do the rules. A child who is on the Autism Spectrum in Ukraine can find no place in society.”, and indeed at the time of shooting autism was not yet even a recognised diagnosis in the country (this came a couple of years later).
Many instead received alternate diagnoses of mental retardation or intellectual disability, and with parents often forced to abandon their children in hospitals or care homes, Not Forgotten conveys the exasperation and desperation of families watching over autistic children and adults, who shockingly often see these individuals as a burden and refer to them as ‘invalids’.
Theme: Autism & Conflict – A watch along session looking to reflect on the difficulties many families and of course those living with autism themselves face on a daily basis with the deep-seated, prejudices of others towards their condition.
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Once again, as always I very much look forward to seeing your friendly, anonymous chatroom IDs popping up on my computer screen come Thursday, 23, just do remember to RSVP to the event pretty please.
Until next time,
Benjamin, London Autism Film Club founder