SF DocFest 2024: My Own Normal & Far from Home

Filmmakers in attendance

Post-screening filmmaker Q&A moderated by Academy Award nominated director and disability rights activist Jim LeBrecht

Filmmaker Alexander Freeman who was diagnosed with cerebral palsy at the age of two, was raised by his loving and supportive parents but the one thing he has always wanted was to be in a loving relationship with a woman and to have a family of his own. When Alexander meets his life partner Orina by chance at a film screening his life changes forever for the better, especially when his daughter Maya is born. As Alexander and Orina raise Maya, have a commitment ceremony, start their lives together, and struggle with life’s challenges, Alexander’s parents learn to accept that Alexander can live a normal life independently and can be a great father despite their original views on the pregnancy.

Plays with short: Far from Home
Samira Faizi and her family escaped to India from Afghanistan in 2021, right before the Taliban takeover. She hoped for a better life for her children by eventually leaving India and settling in a new country. But she is now grappling with the possibility of being stuck forever, as slow asylum processes and the lack of a refugee law in India threaten her existence. She is also stuck in India at a time when violence against Muslims is steadily increasing in the country, led by a right-wing nationalistic government. This film touches upon Samira’s struggle and sheds light on the situation of refugees in India. Directed by Ankita Mukhopadhyay, 32 minutes.