200,000 Developmentally Disabled Waiting for Independence

In her feature directorial debut, Charlotte Glynn moves home to chronicle her sister Rachel's last year in school. Rachel is a young woman with a developmental disability and the resulting film, RACHEL IS, moves past the safety of political correctness and into the most intimate and honest moments in their family's life. Rachel is mysterious, funny, difficult and full of contradictions but she wants what most people her age want – to move out of her mother’s house. This dream of independence seems impossible. Rachel can’t be left alone and the social services needed for her to live an “adult life” are unavailable.

Jane, Rachel’s mother is at her breaking point. Rachel is a difficult person and the relationship between mother and daughter is full of fighting and frustrations. Each wants independence from the other but at what cost? What is Jane willing to sacrifice for Rachel to be independent? What happens to a parent when they don’t have the support they need to give their child a good life? RACHEL IS is an observational-style documentary capturing the rawest and most revealing moments of Rachel and her mother’s relationship. Charlotte dives into her family’s life in order to understand how Rachel sees the world and how the world sees her.

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Website: http://jacktarfilms.com/rachelis.html

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