The second annual ReelAbilities Film Festival is taking place in Pittsburgh, focusing on movies telling the stories of people with disabilities.
We'll talk with director Sam Fleischner and Jesus Sanchez-Velez who stars in the film "Stand Clear of the Closing Doors." The movie won a Special Jury Prize at the Tribeca Film Festival and has played at film festivals around the world.
Fleischner explains that he came up with the story after reading a newspaper article about a kid on the autism spectrum who ran away from home and spent ten days riding the subways around New York City.
Watch a trailer for this film
http://youtu.be/FV77ZcnNX6c
Filming on the subway, Fleischner says, was a significant challenge -- especially because the film was produced in 2o12 when Hurricane Sandy was impacting the New York area.
When it came to playing the character Ricky, actor Sanchez-Velez says that he drew from his own experience as a student in special education classes in Florida in order to “become one with the character.”
The film is showing at 7:00 pm tonight at Rodef Shalom Congregation in Squirrel Hill.
