16-year-old Faith Guilbault shares life with physical disability and her wish that students and society embrace our similarities, not our differences.

Guilbault, from Baltimore, Maryland, loves skydiving, horseback riding, and has walked the runway at Fashion Week in New York City. She is also one of 61 million people in the United States living with a disability.

Whether by birth, accident or illness, nearly 14% of our student population (seven million kids) in the United States is disabled. Guilbault is one of them. Born with cerebral palsy, epilepsy and cortical vision impairment, she can now walk with the use of canes due to her fierce determination to be independent and weekly physical therapy sessions. Because she was born with neurological blindness, Faith attends the Maryland School for the Blind where she works one-on-one with teachers who are guiding her towards new ways to learn.

Guilbault is visually impaired and has cerebral palsy, which affects her ability to move and maintain balance and posture. Yet Guilbault does not want anyone to feel sorry for her. She is resilient, hard-working, and determined to realize her dreams.

Faith shares her many ways of being physically active in the world, from skydiving to traveling to New York City where she walks the catwalk during Fashion Week with Runway of Dreams, showcasing adaptive clothing lines that enables people with physical disability to dress themselves.

With guidance from filmmaker Joyce Chopra, Guilbault shines light on her world, inviting viewers to focus on the similarities rather than differences between abled and disabled people.

DIRECTOR'S STATEMENT
"There are plenty of times when I'm down or frustrated, but I have learned that nothing good comes from that negative perspective. Life is so much better when you look at the good in people and find the positive in every situation, no matter how bad it may seem."
– Faith Guilbault

MENTOR'S STATEMENT
"When we see the world through the eyes of these courageous young film-makers, we can all learn so much about different cultures throughout the globe and about the universal experiences that unite us."
– Joyce Chopra

The film has screened around the world at the United Nations Association Film Festival (Winner Youth Vision Award), Richmond International Film Festival (Winner Rising Star Award), Japan Prize, MY HERO International Film Festival (People's Choice Award).

Faith Guilbault, Director and Narrator
Holly Carter, Executive Producer
Joyce Chopra, Producer

BYkids: Real-world films for kids, by kids…Talented young storytellers from around the world are paired with seasoned filmmakers to create powerful documentaries about their lives. In partnership with public television and education innovators, we share the films and their activation resources to help make global issues feel personal, relevant and actionable for millions of students-igniting important conversations and inspiring a new generation of social activists.
Learn more about BYkids and our mission to empower kids and inspire children everywhere catalyze empathy, connection & change: https://bykids.org/

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Categories: Film & Animation; Entertainment; Education; Nonprofits & Activism.