Many thanks to all who came to yesterday’s free screening of Intelligent Lives, the latest film by award-winning filmmaker Dan Habib, and joined in the public discussion which followed. The event was organised by CSIE in collaboration with the BRIDGE research group at the University of the West of England (UWE) in Bristol, a most apt partnership for an event which involves the exchange of ideas.

Intelligent Lives tells the stories of three young adults with learning difficulties as they navigate school, college and the workplace. The film encourages viewers to explore their thinking about learning difficulties and hopes to transform the label from a life sentence of isolation into a life of possibility.

In the discussion which followed the screening there was much praise for the film, and how it brought issues to life extremely effectively. Viewers were captivated by the three young adults’ stories and commented on these, as well as on more general issues such as the importance of role models and of attending to everyone’s perspective, including parents of other children in school and professionals who offer well-intentioned advice without always acknowledging that they might be on a different personal philosophical standpoint to that of the child’s family. The highlight of the evening was perhaps the moment when one viewer said that the event transformed them, and they would be leaving the auditorium a different person to the one they were when they came in.

The second screening of Intelligent Lives scheduled for Sheffield next week has had to be cancelled, for reasons beyond our control, and will be rescheduled for next year. We also look forward to organising more free screenings of the film, each followed by a public discussion, across the country.

We remain grateful to filmmaker Dan Habib and the Intelligent Lives Project for selecting CSIE to organise these events in the UK.