Who says that people with intellectual disabilities can’t be great entertainers?
Not me… and certainly not the three co-writers and stars of a new Australian movie ‘Down Under Mystery Tour.”
If you remember the ABC dock series ‘Unlikely Travellers’ you will already know one of the main characters in the movie, Darren Magee. Darren became an audience favourite when he was one of six people with disabilities visiting Egypt for two weeks.
James Bradley was also seen in ‘Unlikely Travelers.’ James has Asperger’s syndrome and was the youngest member of the group who visited Egypt. Malcolm Bebb was seen in the doco series, though he didn’t go to Egypt.
There’s been a certain amount of controversy about this movie, which was co-written and produced and directed by Michael Noonan, as part of his PhD which explores disability comedy. Michael also made ‘Unlikely Travellers.’
Michael describes ‘Down Under Mystery Tour’ as: ‘edgy, confronting and unique, and I believe it has valuable educational potential.”
Michael has created a 5-DVD educational resource that includes the film, a two-hour forum featuring five disability experts, a documentary about the controversy surrounding the work and lots of commentaries and additional scenes.
The pack also includes extensive lesson plans and articles, and a bonus copy of the feature documentary Unlikely Travellers, which won an IF Award for Best Australian Documentary in 2007. All materials are fully captioned, the main feature has audio description and time-coded transcripts are included for all video materials.
You can find more information on the education pack here.
I enjoyed the movie, why wouldn’t I? I’m very interested in disability issues and also in having a laugh. The movie and the education pack are a great way to open up a swathe of issues for debate in the classroom.
Have a look at the trailer below.
Do you think you’d enjoy this movie? Have you seen it?
