A heartfelt story of how a script, a stage, and a theater program composed of adults with disabilities celebrate their creativity, explore life’s complexities, and empower a community, in their own words and their own way—
INTO THE SPOTLIGHT is a documentary feature film that follows a Dallas-based theatre troupe, composed of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, who are determined to write, rehearse, and perform their 11th annual original musical during the 2021-22 season.
A lot of the time documentaries that focus on disabled communities tend to be the experts explaining how these people feel, however in this doc, the film is crafted entirely from the point of view of the individuals giving them a voice.
Nothing is editorialized and neither are there any people speaking for or on behalf of them. Only disabled people are interviewed and the only people who answer the questions are the disabled people themselves.
ABOUT THE FILM
DIRECTORS STATEMENT
A favorite quote of mine comes from Michelangelo, “I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free.” This concept, whether I had words for it or not, has always been the driving force behind my filmmaking. Simply put, chipping away to reveal the beauty that is already there. Upon being introduced to the Spotlight Musical Theater troupe — a group of late-teens and adult individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities surrounded by theater professionals and countless volunteers collaborating to create, rehearse, and present an original musical every year—I knew I was seeing the very embodiment of that freed angel. Because the entire operation, it’s sponsored by Highland Park United Methodist Church of Dallas through their Belong Ministry, is committed to amplifying the voices, providing an unexpected and welcome platform to share a vision of the world as they see it.
I couldn’t look away from a vision that needed to be brought into the light, instinctively sensing the approach I’ve been committed to was a perfect match for this job. Together with some of the most talented and empathic film artists I have had the pleasure to meet, much less work with, we set a guiding principle for this documentary that mirrors the entire approach of Spotlight Musical Theater: the individuals will speak for themselves and reveal to us their world. INTO THE SPOTLIGHT is their story. In their own words. And with it, they are all Michelangelo’s angels taking flight.
- Thaddeus D. Matula
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Belong Disability Ministry
Highland Park United Methodist Church’s Belong Disability Ministry offers programs at no cost to participants and their families. Programming is open to anyone in the DFW community who is or has a family member affected by a disability.
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Spotlight Musical Theater
Spotlight Musical Theater is a theater group comprised of older teens and adults with disabilities who work with a professional artistic team for six months to create and perform an original musical.