Without Pity: A Film About Abilities (1996)

Genre : Documentary

Runtime : 55M

Director : Michael Mierendorf

Synopsis

Without Pity: A Film About Abilities is an HBO film narrated by Christopher Reeve. This documentary celebrates the efforts of the disabled to live full, productive lives. The viewers meet a cross section of Americans in the film. A young woman with cerebral palsy who cares for her baby, while a man with cerebral palsy lives successfully on his own after 40 years in a Colorado institution. The film takes a trip to school with a remarkable 6-year-old boy without arms or legs, visits the workplace of a blind computer expert, and meets a professor with polio who teaches the history of discrimination against people with disabilities. A young man recently made paraplegic discusses his daily battle with depression and his determination and motivation to overcome it and get on with his life. This movie applauds the resilience and potential of people with disabilities and their need to be determined to be self-sufficient.

Actors

Christopher Reeve
Christopher Reeve
Narrator

Crews

Michael Mierendorf
Michael Mierendorf
Director
Michael Mierendorf
Michael Mierendorf
Writer
Michael Mierendorf
Michael Mierendorf
Producer
Sheila Nevins
Sheila Nevins
Executive Producer
Vincent Stenerson
Vincent Stenerson
Editor
Dyanna Taylor
Dyanna Taylor
Director of Photography
Richard Fiocca
Richard Fiocca
Music

Similar

An Inconvenient Truth
A documentary on Al Gore's campaign to make the issue of global warming a recognized problem worldwide.
The Endless Summer
Bruce Brown's The Endless Summer is one of the first and most influential surf movies of all time. The film documents American surfers Mike Hynson and Robert August as they travel the world during California’s winter (which, back in 1965 was off-season for surfing) in search of the perfect wave and ultimately, an endless summer.
Inside Deep Throat
In 1972, a seemingly typical shoestring budget pornographic film was made in a Florida hotel, "Deep Throat," starring Linda Lovelace. This film would surpass the wildest expectation of everyone involved to become one of the most successful independent films of all time. It caught the public imagination which met the spirit of the times, even as the self appointed guardians of public morality struggled to suppress it, and created, for a brief moment, a possible future where sexuality in film had a bold artistic potential. This film covers the story of the making of this controversial film, its stunning success, its hysterical opposition along with its dark side of mob influence and allegations of the on set mistreatment of the film's star.
Capitalism: A Love Story
Michael Moore comes home to the issue he's been examining throughout his career: the disastrous impact of corporate dominance on the everyday lives of Americans (and by default, the rest of the world).
Ghosts of the Abyss
With a team of the world's foremost historic and marine experts as well as friend Bill Paxton, James Cameron embarks on an unscripted adventure back to the wreck of the Titanic where nearly 1,500 souls lost their lives almost a century ago.
Thinking XXX
For a book project, photographer Timothy Greenfield-Sanders took photographs of 30 stars of adult movies, each pair of photographs in the same pose, clothed and nude. This film records the photo shoots and includes interviews with the performers and commentary from eight writers (and John Waters). The actors and writers discuss economics, nudity and exhibitionism, careers, and private lives.
ABBA: The Movie
A radio DJ in pursuit of an exclusive interview follows ABBA during their mega-successful tour of Australia.
Jackass 3D
Johnny Knoxville, Bam Margera, Steve-O, Wee Man and the rest of their fearless and foolhardy friends take part in another round of outrageous pranks and stunts. In addition to standing in the path of a charging bull, launching themselves into the air and crashing through various objects, the guys perform in segments such as "Sweatsuit Cocktail," "Beehive Tetherball" and "Lamborghini Tooth Pull."
Man with a Movie Camera
A cameraman wanders around Moscow, Kharkiv, Kyiv and Odesa with a camera slung over his shoulder, documenting urban life with dazzling invention. Man with a Movie Camera is one of the major manifestos of the world cinema avant-garde. According to the aesthetic principles of Vertov, the film was not based on a script. In Man with a Movie Camera, Vertov implemented experiments that he carried out for many years and theoretical developments in cinematography and editing, turning the film into a film-making methodological guide for subsequent generations of directors. The camera of a talented cinematographer Mikhail Kaufman captures the motley life of Ukrainian megalopolises – Odesa, Kharkiv, and Kyiv – under New Economic Policy.
Man on Wire
On August 7th 1974, French tightrope walker Philippe Petit stepped out on a high wire, illegally rigged between New York's World Trade Center twin towers, then the world's tallest buildings. After nearly an hour of performing on the wire, 1,350 feet above the sidewalks of Manhattan, he was arrested. This fun and spellbinding documentary chronicles Philippe Petit's "highest" achievement.
Jackass 2.5
The crew have now set off to finish what as left over from Jackass 2.0, and in this version they have Wee Man use a 'pee' gun on themselves, having a mini motor bike fracas in the grocery mall, a sperm test, a portly crew member disguised as King Kong, as well as include three episodes of their hilarious adventures in India.
The U.S. vs. John Lennon
A documentary on the life of John Lennon, with a focus on the time in his life when he transformed from a musician into an antiwar activist.
Porn to Be Free
Italy, 1970. An increasing legion of harmless warriors begins a peaceful struggle for sexual freedom through pornography, shaking and shocking religious authorities and conservative political institutions. They are ironic, happy, crazy. They are dreamers, defenders of definitive communion between body and soul. But they were censored and humiliated. They were mistreated and arrested for demanding loud a new cultural renaissance.
X-Rated: The Greatest Adult Movies of All Time
The evolution of adult cinema through the most influential films in history, a journey that begins in the 1970s and ends nowadays. An in-depth analysis of the success of the most prestigious erotic films, their impact on industry and society, and their influence on cinema and contemporary culture.
Ronaldo
Filmed over 14 months with unprecedented access into the inner circle of the man and the sport, this is the first official and fully authorised film of one of the most celebrated figures in football. For the first time ever, the world gets vividly candid and un-paralleled, behind-closed-doors access to the footballer, father, family-man and friend in this moving & fascinating documentary. Through in-depth conversations, state of the art football footage and never before seen archival footage, the film gives an astonishing insight into the sporting and personal life of triple Ballon D'Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo at the peak of his career. From the makers of ‘Senna’ and ‘Amy’, Ronaldo takes audiences on an intimate and revealing journey of what it’s like to live as an iconic athlete in the eye of the storm.
Hot Girls Wanted
A first-ever look at the realities of the professional “amateur” porn world and the steady stream of 18-to-19-year old girls entering into it.
Interstellar: Nolan's Odyssey
A look behind the lens of Christopher Nolan's space epic.
Avatar: Scene Deconstruction
The deconstruction of the Avatar scenes and sets
Capturing Avatar
Capturing Avatar is a feature length behind-the-scenes documentary about the making of Avatar. It uses footage from the film's development, as well as stock footage from as far back as the production of Titanic in 1995. Also included are numerous interviews with cast, artists, and other crew members. The documentary was released as a bonus feature on the extended collector's edition of Avatar.
Zombies: A Living History
Zombies: are they real? Every culture creates its own version of a zombie. There have been diseases in history that have mimicked behavior of a zombie virus. The plausibility is there. You would never be up against one zombie.you would be up against thousands or millions of zombies. How would you survive?