The Ojai Art Center Film Branch offers a free screening of Being Michelle this Sunday, July 16 at 7pm. Donations to the Art Center optional but appreciated.
The award-winning feature-length documentary Being Michelle follows the astonishing journey of a woman who survived incarceration and abuse by a system that refused to accommodate her needs as a deaf person with autism. Michelle’s trajectory changed when she met Kim Law, a blind volunteer life coach who teaches classes to people in prison.
Today, outside of prison, Kim and Michelle are doing the difficult work of unraveling Michelle’s history, of telling the story of Michelle’s traumatic childhood and her adverse experiences in the criminal justice system. With the support of Kim, Michelle realizes her own voice and strength. Throughout the film Michelle’s artwork provides her own depiction of the trauma she survived as well as a means to her recovery.
Ultimately, Being Michelle tells a story of redemption. It is about the bonds between women committed to thriving in a broken system, who forge a path to healing that only comes through facing the truth and communicating it, together.
