Thursday, December 2, 2010

"Up Syndrome" airs on Documentary Channel Dec. 13, available via Netflix as well

"Up Syndrome" is now streaming instantly to all Netflix customers. It airs again on Dec. 13, 2010 at 2 a.m. CST on the Documentary Channel.


The synopsis of Up Syndrome from its Facebook page:

Growing up in Texas, filmmaker Duane Graves became close friends with a neighborhood boy Rene Moreno, and as they grew older the two stayed in touch. But their paths in life became increasingly different over the years -- largely because Moreno is afflicted with Down's Syndrome.

But Moreno has long struggled not to let his handicap define his life, and Graves' documentary Up Syndrome follows a year in Moreno's life, as he graduates from a high school for special students in 1999 and attempts to integrate himself into the "normal" world around him.

Over the course of 12 months, Moreno gains and loses a job, gains and loses a girlfriend, learns to drive a car, follows the San Antonio Spurs as they aim for an NBA championship, and generally tries to make sense of the world around him as best he can, holding on to his optimism at every setback.