This documentary explores Mark Bookman's life story and shows how Mark experienced a lifetime of developing mobility disabilities as well as his skyrocketing intelligence. Mark resided in Tokyo as a severely disabled American and became one of Japan's leading experts on accessibility and a policy consultant to governments and major corporations. His efforts to raise awareness of disabled persons influenced not only populations in Japan, but in the US and many other countries worldwide.
The documentary shows Mark in action and talked about by his father, sister, friends and teachers as he grows up with a slow and continuous loss of his mobility. It's interesting to experience Mark's tremendous increase, though, of his intelligence that develops, compensating for his continuous mobility losses. As an older teen, Mark amazingly is invited and moves to Japan into higher education due to his intellectual talents, particularly in philosophy. While there, he learns to speak Japanese fluently, while he also affects and makes accessibility with physical barriers happen for his needs. His process also affects many others with mobility disabilities. This all happens because of his intellectual strengths and by influencing many others in both Japan and the US.
This film documents Mark growing up in both US and Japanese environments with interviews conducted in one-on-one situations in these environments. All the speakers - father, sister, friends, assistants, and teachers - are progressively documented along with Mark's developments throughout the documentary. I was greatly impressed by learning about Mark's successes, as he became tolerant and accepting of his mobility paralysis impairments. His success progresses through his intellectual talents which results in benefiting accessibility for himself and for others with disabilities while he lives in the US and Japan.
This film is very well crafted, from the camera work, to the audio recording and the editing. It never feels like a bunch of talking heads, but it totally immerses you in Mark's life. I felt as if I knew this man by the time the credits roll. Mark is well documented as he transitions from walking to being a full time wheelchair user. There is no favorite part of the film for me. I feel, in a holistic way, that the film shows Mark in his life process with his disability developing and how he also develops an amazing intellectual capability to overcome the disability by helping himself, and also others, like him get accessibility to work.
The film's message is about how an individual with remarkable intellectual strengths has helped himself and others, in different cultures, overcome a lifetime of progressive severe physical weaknesses. It is also a statement about what serves people with disabilities best and a reminder that their disability does not define who they are.
I give Mark - A Call to Action 5 out of 5 stars and recommend it for ages 12 to 18, plus adults. By William N. and Julie S., KIDS FIRST!
This documentary explores Mark Bookman's life story and shows how Mark experienced a lifetime of developing mobility disabilities as well as his skyrocketing intelligence. Mark resided in Tokyo as a severely disabled American and became one of Japan's leading experts on accessibility and a policy consultant to governments and major corporations. His efforts to raise awareness of disabled persons influenced not only populations in Japan, but in the US and many other countries worldwide.
The documentary shows Mark in action and talked about by his father, sister, friends and teachers as he grows up with a slow and continuous loss of his mobility. It's interesting to experience Mark's tremendous increase, though, of his intelligence that develops, compensating for his continuous mobility losses. As an older teen, Mark amazingly is invited and moves to Japan into higher education due to his intellectual talents, particularly in philosophy. While there, he learns to speak Japanese fluently, while he also affects and makes accessibility with physical barriers happen for his needs. His process also affects many others with mobility disabilities. This all happens because of his intellectual strengths and by influencing many others in both Japan and the US.
This film documents Mark growing up in both US and Japanese environments with interviews conducted in one-on-one situations in these environments. All the speakers - father, sister, friends, assistants, and teachers - are progressively documented along with Mark's developments throughout the documentary. I was greatly impressed by learning about Mark's successes, as he became tolerant and accepting of his mobility paralysis impairments. His success progresses through his intellectual talents which results in benefiting accessibility for himself and for others with disabilities while he lives in the US and Japan.
This film is very well crafted, from the camera work, to the audio recording and the editing. It never feels like a bunch of talking heads, but it totally immerses you in Mark's life. I felt as if I knew this man by the time the credits roll. Mark is well documented as he transitions from walking to being a full time wheelchair user. There is no favorite part of the film for me. I feel, in a holistic way, that the film shows Mark in his life process with his disability developing and how he also develops an amazing intellectual capability to overcome the disability by helping himself, and also others, like him get accessibility to work.
The film's message is about how an individual with remarkable intellectual strengths has helped himself and others, in different cultures, overcome a lifetime of progressive severe physical weaknesses. It is also a statement about what serves people with disabilities best and a reminder that their disability does not define who they are.
I give Mark - A Call to Action 5 out of 5 stars and recommend it for ages 12 to 18, plus adults. By William N. and Julie S., KIDS FIRST!
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