Refrigerator Mothers

The award-winning 2003 Kartemquin documentary Refrigerator Mothers was mentioned in a new blog on the Pyschology Today website about a worrying trend towards the racial and class stereotyping of autism. Click here to read this important article.

A 3-pack of women-made Kartemquin Films is in this year's Women's Media Center Online Auction. Check it out. Bid high, bid often.

Kartemquin's JJ Hanley will give a presentation on her experience with fair use and licensing during the making of Refrigerator Mothers, and will share other Kartemquin fair use experiences, on December 3rd, in St. Louis at an event sponsored by the St. Louis Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts. Get the details.

Kartemquin Filmmaker, David E. Simpson, participated in the ITVS session during day 3 of the IFP Chicago Midwest Filmmaker Summit on Sunday. Simpson sat with Naomi Walker from ITVS and discussed his related experiences on his past film Refrigerator Mothers, and with his current ITVS funded doc-in-progress, Milking the Rhino. Naomi Walker is also presenting Kartemquin's Terra Incognita as a part of the Independent Lens' Community Cinema program in Chicago on December 15th.

JJ Hanley, producer of Refrigerator Mothers, shared the stage with pioneer mothers who raised their autistic children during the era of “mother blame” of the 50s and 60s during the Autism Society of America’s (ASA) national conference in Phoenix, AZ this week. The conference ran from July 11th - 14th.

The leader of the panel, titled "Mothers from the Freudian/Psychoanalytic Era Respond to the Documentary Refrigerator Mothers", was Ruth Sullivan, first elected president of the ASA in the 1960s, founder of the Autism Services Center of West Virginia and a long-time advocate for the rights and advancement of autistic people. Eustacia Cutler, mother of Temple Grandin and author of AThorn in My Pocket, read excerpts from her account of her experience with the psychiatric profession while raising her daughter, who is a well-known autistic person and a very accomplished professional. Mary Flanagan, long-time advocate and crusader for the rights of autistic people in New York and one of the subjects of the documentary spoke of the damage that Freudian era did to families. The four mothers led the panel discussion, before a full house of parents and professionals.

Watch WTTW's Chicago Tonight at 7pm this evening to see a discussion with Kartemquin President Gordon Quinn and Board Member Peter Gilbert about Kartemquin's current works-in-progress and their recent MacArthur Award.

Then, tune-in to Chicago Tonight again tomorrow at 7pm for a discussion about Autism awareness featuring selects from Kartemquin's Refrigerator Mothers. Finally, on Friday night at 9:30pm, WTTW is re-broadcasting the award-winning film on Autism and its effect on families itself.

The Center for Social Media at American University recently posted clips from Refrigerator Mothers to be used to help understand "fair use" issues in documentary filmmaking. Check it out, you might learn something!

Refrigerator Mothers will be screened at the first annual Staten Island Film Festival taking place June 1-4, 2006 in Staten Island. A special screening of Refrigerator Mothers will be held for members of the Eden II Programs. Established in 1978, Eden II provides children with autism and their families specialized community-based programs and other opportunities with the goal of enabling them to achieve the highest quality of life. More information

Kartemquin is proud to announce the release of Refrigerator Mothers on DVD, distributed by Fanlight.

The second night of the Kartemquin Retrospective at the University of Chicago is tomorrow night, Thursday, November 3rd at 7pm at the U of C Film Studies Center at 5811 S. Ellis. The evening entitled "Health in Crisis" will include screenings of Home for Life, The Chicago Maternity Center Story, [[HSA Strike 75|film:hsa-strike-75]] and Refrigerator Mothers as well as a discussion with the filmmakers following the film excerpts.

Other events for the Retrospective will take place throughout November. For more information visit here.