Douglas Biklen's new documentary makes its way to Germany



My Classic Life as an Artist: A Portrait of Larry Bissonnette" was recently selected for screening at the fifth International Short Film Festival, "The Way We Live," in Munich, Germany. Biklen's documentary, scheduled to run at the festival on Nov. 2, is one of 26 films selected out of roughly 300 candidates. Sierra Leone RPCV Douglas Biklen earned an Oscar nomination in 2004 for "Autism is a World" as best Documentary Short Subject.

Douglas Biklen's new documentary makes its way to Germany

Dean's new documentary makes its way to Germany
By Elsa Buss
Published: Friday, September 16, 2005
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[Excerpt]

School of Education Dean Douglas Biklen's newest documentary about an autistic artist has really been getting around. Viewed earlier this year at the Vail Film Festival in Vail, Colo., and the Sprout Film Festival in New York City, the film has now gained international attention.

"My Classic Life as an Artist: A Portrait of Larry Bissonnette" was recently selected for screening at the fifth International Short Film Festival, "The Way We Live," in Munich, Germany. Biklen's documentary, scheduled to run at the festival on Nov. 2, is one of 26 films selected out of roughly 300 candidates.

The film documents autistic artist Larry Bissonnette looking back upon his earlier life in Vermont where he spent time in various mental retardation institutions. Written by Bissonnette, "My Classic Life as an Artist" is groundbreaking in the field of disability documentaries.

"In films about disability, invariably, there's a narrator telling you what to think," said Biklen, noting this documentary breaks that mold because it is told through Bissonnette, who communicates mainly by typing. "We're trying to create opportunities for people to speak for themselves."

Bissonnette is described as an "outside artist" whose work is occasionally referred to as folk art. He works mainly in acrylics and he paints "very bold images," frequently of the institutions and wards he spent time at in Vermont, Biklen said.

Part of the documentary describes Bissonnette's emancipation from institutionalized life when his sister came from California to visit him in Vermont. She found him in the institution "sitting on the floor rocking, heavily medicated. She was determined from that point on to get him out of the institution," Biklen said.

The film also captures Bissonnette's touching sense of humor and even includes a scene of him shopping for art supplies in the Syracuse University Bookstore during the credits.

Biklen has been working in the disability field since 1969 and began his involvement in film while encouraging filmmakers to expose the issues and stories of disabled persons.

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