A Coffee With ...

Joshua Tate and Zach Anner hope their film inspires Texans

By Corrie MacLaggan
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Tuesday, December 04, 2007

Joshua Tate is the serious one.

Part of a family that has long fought for the closure of state institutions for people with mental retardation, the 21-year-old filmmaker explores in a new project the political pressure that has kept 13 such facilities, known as state schools, open in Texas. Many other states have closed theirs.

Zach Anner, 23, is the comic.

Tate brought him on to add a light perspective to a dreary topic (a federal report last year found unsafe, unsanitary conditions at Lubbock State School). The creator of a student sketch comedy show, Anner, who uses a wheelchair because of cerebral palsy, relies on humor to encourage tolerance.

Together, the University of Texas undergraduate film students created "Forgotten Lives," a 45-minute documentary they're showing at college campuses around the state (there's also a 20-minute version). Tate visited state schools in San Antonio, Austin, Denton and Abilene to tell stories such as that of Haseeb Chishty, a resident of Denton State School who was paralyzed after being beaten by one of his caretakers in 2002 (the caretaker, who pleaded guilty to injury to a disabled individual, is now in prison).

The documentary, financed by Tate's father, recently won the college division of the Cinema Touching Disability Film Festival, which was held in Austin.

Over hot chocolate at Clementine Coffee Bar, Tate (the film's director and an editor and producer) and Anner (a producer who is also a subject of the documentary) talked about the message they want to bring to a new generation.

American-Statesman: Joshua, your uncle (Jeff Garrison-Tate of Advocacy Inc.) has been involved in this cause, but how did you personally get interested?

Joshua Tate: The main thing that kind of sealed the deal ... was reading the (Lubbock) report. It's just some horrible things. I just couldn't believe that this was going on. That made me really think, 'I've got to try to do something about this,' at least to speak out to my generation. A lot of people who are older than us believe that people with disabilities belong in these places and that it's the right thing to have them segregated from the community.

What was it about the report that really grabbed you?

Tate: The fact that 17 people had died. Stuff like (staff) leaving them lying in urine-soaked diapers. Neglect is a big problem.

What would you say to the people who might say there's a side to this story that is not really presented in the film? There are families who insist their loved ones are well cared for in state schools.

Tate: The other side has been very, very vocal and in fact seems to be the only voice being heard right now by the Texas Legislature.

Zach Anner: Everyone's trying to make the best choices possible for the people that they love (even if) politicians aren't keeping the best interests of the individuals at heart. I totally respect that (people who want the institutions to stay open) feel that way. I still have major disagreements with their positions because I think a lot of times they are erasing an aspect of the humanity from the individual and they're not putting emphasis on the resilience of the individual and they're not giving people in these state schools enough credit to make their own decisions.

What do you see yourself doing after college?

Tate: Probably going to grad school for film.

Anner:I want to be an advocate. I just want to be able to be funny and in the process of that maybe expose people to things they may not have paid attention to before.

Like what?

Anner: I've got this idea to do a travel show ... with an emphasis on finding accessible places to go. Sort of like Man vs. Wild, but like Man vs. Curb. Or Man vs. Stairs. Guides to these cities that would have a slight emphasis on what you would do if you had a disability.

What do you hope people do when they see the documentary?

Tate:I hope they tell a lot of people.

Anner:And very loudly. We want one of those dialogues that gets into heated debate and ... just really energizes people to do something. Because the people in power will only listen if people are shouting.

Tate:They can come and join us with Community Now!, a new nonprofit (communitynowfreedom.org).

Anner (joking):Or, you know, they could disable themselves. That would be the ideal thing, to have lots of people who are falling down stairs and getting hit by buses just to be part of the movement. That's what I see for the future.