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Independent Living News & Policy from the National Council on Independent Living

Adults with Down Syndrome Strive for Independence in ‘The Grown-Ups,’ Airing September 4

Source: POV Pressroom

The 30th season of POV continues with The Grown-Ups, a glimpse into the lives of adults in Chile living with Down syndrome from director Maite Alberdi. With both humor and heartbreak, the film illuminates legal, financial, and societal restrictions that diminish the freedoms of Chile’s developmentally disabled population.

Alberdi places the viewer in a center for individuals with Down syndrome, where the film’s main characters attend school and staff an in-house catering business.

“The unforgettable characters at the center of this film highlight important questions about the constraints placed on those deemed ‘less than’ by various societal institutions,” said POV executive producer Chris White. “A remarkable and impassioned work, it forces us to consider the pain that can be imposed by varying notions of how much freedom is appropriate for those living with developmental disabilities.”

The Grown-Ups will have its national broadcast premiere on the PBS documentary series POV (Point of View) on Monday, September 4, 2017 at 10:00 p.m. (check local listings). The Grown-Ups will stream online on pov.org in concurrence with its broadcast.