TITLE: Out of My Mind
Section: Family Matinee
Director: Amber Sealey
Screenwriter: Daniel Stiepleman
Based on the novel by: Sharon M. Draper
Distributor: Disney+
Logline: Melody Brooks (Phoebe-Ray Taylor) is navigating sixth grade as a nonverbal wheelchair user who has cerebral palsy. With the help of some assistive technology and her devoted allies, Melody shows that what she has to say is more important than how she says it.
Panelists: Amber Sealey, actors Phoebe-Rae Taylor, Rosemarie DeWitt and Luke Kirby
First screening: January 19
Key quote: On takeaways from the film, first-time feature star Phoebe-Rae Taylor said, “I hope kids with disabilities can take away from this film that they’re not alone, that they’ve got people they can talk to. And I just want people to understand that people with disabilities aren’t just objects, that they’re people with emotions and feelings, and they shouldn’t get pushed aside.”
In discussing how Out of My Mind is different from her past work, Amber Sealey shared, “I’ve made six films and I’ve never before felt like I made a film that I think everybody should see because it’s important, culturally. This is the first that I’ve made where I’m like, this is important, it will change lives…I feel like the conversation around disability and mental health and neurodiversity is getting better and better. We’re still not all the way there, but I think that one of the wonderful things that I see happening, that I’ve seen a big change in the last 10 years, is just the de-stigmatization of any sort of diagnosis, any sort of disability or neurodiversity. I see people now really embracing their differences, and so I hope this movie in some way contributes to that, the conversation around accessibility.”
The Deadline Studio at Sundance runs January 19-23 at Montgomery-Lee Fine Art on Main Street, when the cast and creatives behind the best and buzziest titles in this year’s lineup sit down with Deadline’s festival team to discuss their movies and the paths they took to get to Park City.
Thank you to our sponsors McGee & Co., Final Draft, Portrait Creative Network, and Courser.
