FILMS

This incredibly powerful film is based on one woman’s fight for the education, social services, and healthcare her neurodivergent son deserves. Maryśka, a young, single mother, wants nothing more than to go back to school herself. But when her son, Śubuk, is to be placed in a special needs school despite his obvious intellect, she must change course. Facing endless bureaucratic roadblocks, she challenges educators and administrators, as well as local and national leaders, to see beyond her son’s diagnosis and find the intelligent and thoughtful person that she sees. Backwards was inspired by true events that led to significant changes in Poland’s education system in the 1990s. (Content Warning: language)  

Official Selection – Cleveland International Film Festival

Winner – Best Screenplay – Polish Film Festival  

Followed by a live Q&A via Zoom with Woody Brown, a nonspeaking person with autism who is pursuing an MFA in fiction writing at Columbia University, and Mary Brown, his communication partner and mother.  

Thursday, September 7, 7pm | Point Park University – Highmark Theatre  

After-party in the Playhouse lobby

Watch the trailer: