DO not take them for granted anymore for they are now scaling new heights. Differently-abled children played roles, shot and edited a documentary film and also won a UN-sponsored award. Children of Muskaan, an NGO working for differently-abled people, guided by film maker Somya Sharma produced a film - ‘To Whom I am Concerned' - for which they worked out shots, wrote the script, shot the entire film and even edited it without taking any physical help from people who are termed “normal.” ‘To Whom I am Concerned' won the second prize in the 60-minute category in the We Care Film Fest 2008 awards organised by United Nations Information Centre (UNIC). Somya Sharma who guided the differently-abled children in making this documentary is full of praises for them. “I believe mentally-challenged people are capable of doing everything. I only helped them with the basics of camera handling and editing. They picked up very quickly and shot the entire film on their own. Even the rest of post-production work was done entirely by them,” says Somya. Disability is an issue which is not always satisfactorily handled by Indian film makers, feels Subodh Lal, former director, School of Convergence, and head of the jury that judged the documentary awards.
