In Our Midst 2002
Distributed by Fanlight Productions, 32 Court St., 21st Floor, Brooklyn, NY 11201; 800-876-1710
Produced by Richard Kahn
Directed by Richard Kahn
VHS, color, 56 min.
College - Adult
Learning Disabilities, Health Sciences, Parenting, Child Development
Date Entered: 11/09/2018
Reviewed by Lori Widzinski, Health Sciences Library, University at Buffalo, State University of New YorkIn Our Midst is a reality documentary. As best described in the film itself, it is “a collection of snapshots” of one family with four children who all spent their first months in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). Two of the children have serious physical and emotional problems. Over the course of a year, we see this remarkable family grow in their everyday lives, filled with happiness, tears, frustrations, and love.
There is no narration, just a few simple frames of text in the beginning of the program to introduce the main theme of the video – what life is like for children (and their parents) who must ultimately leave the NICU. The remainder of the program gives us an intimate view of the challenges facing this family through video shot primarily at home and at the hospital. It tackles the big issues, such as mainstreaming a special needs kid in kindergarden, and the small ones, like the physically challenged trying to open a cereal box.
Producer/director Richard Kahn has produced a clean, professional program that presents the facts about life with special needs kids in a way that is honest, upfront and achingly real. He has painted a portrait of an extraordinary family dealing with society and our institutions both good and bad; and shining with the resiliency of the human spirit.