The Cinema will host a screening of Deej (Robert Rooy, David James Savarese, U.S. 2017, 72 min.) as part of the Reel Mind Film Series.

Abandoned by his birth parents and unable to speak for himself, DJ Savarese ("Deej") found not only a loving family but also a life in words, which he types on a text-to-voice synthesizer. As he makes his way through high school and dreams of college, he confronts the terrors of his past, obstacles to inclusion, and the sometimes paralyzing beauty of his own senses. In his advocacy on behalf of other nonspeaking autistics, he embraces filmmaking and poetry, and discovers what having a voice can truly mean. Through the first-of-its-kind collaboration between veteran filmmaker Robert Rooy and a nonspeaking young man with Autism, the film is a story told largely from the inside — by DJ, and not by his parents or autism experts or even the camera. At its core, Deej reflects the level of participation that disability rights advocates insist upon: "Nothing about us without us."

[source: Reel Mind Theatre and Film Series website, 2018-May-7]