Tribeca's jurors surprised a trio of family members with the Best Documentary Feature award for their film Monica and David. It's no wonder. Everyone in it and everything about this documentary shouts "winner." Despite the touchy subject matter - two people with Downs syndrome who fall in love and marry - audiences see and hear how love is carried out between people whose innocence and capacity for love keep relationships going. It's extremely rare for intellectually disadvantaged people to marry. But with prodigious support from their parents, this couple proves it can succeed. They've been married for five years now and live with Monica's parents. Also successful are the medical and social advances that allow people with Downs syndrome a life expectancy of 60 years. (In 1983, this number was 25.)
Alexandra Codina/Photo by Leslie Hassler
We would never have seen this deeply intimate family film had the director, Alexandra "Ali" Codina, 32, not been Monica's 1st cousin. As a member of this family of Cuban-Americans, she was able to wander through Monica's parents' Miami, FL home with her camera.
Even though I'd been working around film for several years, I never thought of filming my family until we learned Monica and David wanted to marry and have a big wedding. That's when I thought this would work as a film. I started filming five days later, shortly before their wedding. I kept filming for about a year.
The next upset was when David was hospitalized and nearly died from severe diabetes no one knew he had. But with patient training from Bob, he learned to test his blood sugar and give himself insulin shots.
The bright side includes several instinctual qualities Monica and David possess--qualities often weak or lacking in people considered normal. Marie tells a story that reveals her son's sureness of purpose. David told her he was madly in love with Monica but had been rejected because she had another boyfriend. She told him "You have to respect that, so you'd better get over Monica." David's undaunted reply became his mantra: "That's my girl, and I'm going to marry her someday."
Monica and David/Photo by Leslie Hassler
Despite knowing he is handicapped, the affable David is supremely sure of himself. Watching his dancing style at their wedding celebration, you wish you looked that good on the dance floor. We might also wish for his constant smile and positive attitude. Not from neediness but from pure affection, he often wraps Monica in his arms and snuggles her. He peppers her with endearments like "my little baby," "my little princess," and "look at that face, you're my angel." We see quite a bit of this verbal petting coming from Monica, too, although David leads it. Where does he get this? Does he watch a lot of TV? Codina says,
Some, but David is by nature extremely emotive. He'll look at me for a moment and then say, 'I love you'. Or if he hasn't talked to you for a few days and you call, he'll say 'I miss you'. The two of them have an incredible amount of charisma, especially when they're together. They operate as a team; in fact, they refer to themselves as a team.
Monica's stepfather adopted her three years ago. He explains the success of the family this way: "Both of these mothers are very progressive. What I see with other kids that Monica and David used to hang out with is over-protection by the parents. They keep them wrapped up in their little cocoons. These two moms realized their kids needed to carve out a life of their own." Marie Elena explains another bright spot in this story, Monica and David, they're very gentle, and they want to please. No matter how many times you ask them to tell you what they really want, they won't assert themselves. You show her three bridesmaids dresses, and whichever you showed her last was 'the one'. It was the same thing with wedding gowns. She loved all of them, which makes her absolutely wonderful.
Codina adds, "One of the ways I find Monica and David very sophisticated is their ability to tap into their own and other people's emotions. They're deeply concerned with how other people feel." And could Codina tap into her own emotions when she won the award?
I couldn't believe it, actually. Monica, David and I were standing at the front during the Awards Ceremony because we're all short and they wanted to see Robert DeNiro. When the announcer started describing the film chosen for best documentary, I didn't recognize it was ours until they actually named the film. I'm still in shock. This is going to take a while to sink in.
Tribeca needs to make a major decision. Is it going to be a film festival for hard hitting, deeply engaging indie films or is it going to be for safe cinema that draws in the largest audiences. Whereas Sundance is pulling back to its roots and going for edgy, challenging films, pushing the cinematic borders as it pushes our personal boundaries, Tribeca is moving straight ahead into the world of mediocre films to haul in, evidently, the most money.
Like many who attended Tribeca, I was disappointed with the quality of too many films. I shouldn't be surprised, then, that I'm also disappointed with what film that received the best doc award. It's not a bad film, it's just not a really good film, and it's a universe away from being a great film. But very good or great is what a major film festival's doc winner should be.
I AM THE MOTHER TO A 19-YEAR-OLD SON WITH DS.
AND EVEN THOUGH HE IS LOWER FUNCTIONING AND
WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO DO THIS, I KNOW MANY WHO
ARE HIGHER FUNCTIONING AND INDEED WOULD BE ABLE
TO. I AM HOPING THAT THIS FILM WILL HAVE WIDE
DISTRIBUTION, AS I WOULD LOVE TO SEE IT WHEN IT'S
RELEASED. I BELIEVE IT WOULD BE A REAL EYE-OPENER
TO MANY ABOUT WHAT LIFE IS REALLY LIKE FOR ALL
THOSE WHO ARE AFFECTED BY DOWN SYNDROME,
EVEN IF JUST INDIRECTLY. THEY ARE A TOTAL
INSPIRATION TO ALL, BELIEVE ME!!
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