Language Arts takes viewers on a powerful journey of connection and redemption starring Ashley Zukerman & Sarah Shahi. A student project abruptly forces an emotionally stunted high school English teacher to confront his demons—past and present—taking him on a powerful journey of connection and redemption in Language Arts, available now On Demand. Language Arts was written and directed by Cornelia Duryée (West of Redemption, The Dark Horse, Camilla Dickinson), whose youngest son—who makes a cameo appearance in the film—falls on the autism spectrum. Parenting her son has given her a unique perspective on her adaptation of the novel and her direction of the film.
Language Arts is now streaming in the U.S. and Canada on Apple TV, iTunes, Microsoft, Prime Video, Spectrum, Vimeo and VUDU; and is coming soon on Google Play and YouTube.
Cornelia, You began as a playwright and stage director. What led you to the world of film?
When I was young, even before I co-founded Seattle Shakespeare Company, I had the incredible blessing of having my Godmother, Madeleine L’Engle, as a writing mentor. After I had spent about 20 years in the theater, writing, acting, and directing, Madeleine asked to read one of the play scripts I’d been working on. She liked it a lot. I had moved back to Seattle, after many years working with Madeleine in New York, and I was staying with her, in her wonderful apartment on the Upper West Side, as I usually did on my visits back to New York. The day before I was to fly home to Seattle, she brought me into her office, handed me a stack of her old, unpublished play scripts from the 1940s and early 1950s, and said, “These have never been published. They have been just sitting there since the fifties, not doing anything. I want you to adapt these and produce them for me.” I was amazed, and asked her why she would ask me to do this. She said “You are the only living playwright that I trust”, and then gave me a very long hug. I dropped out of seminary, where I was working on an MDIV, went to film school, and began writing screenplays, in my late 30s and early 40’s. I figured that when Madeleine called one to something, it was wise to respond in the affirmative. I did! The first of them is available for viewing, Camilla Dickinson, her semi-autobiographical coming-of-age story, set in 1948, and we are in early pre-production on the second of those adaptations, another story of hers, which will be my sixth feature film.
You have adapted several of Madeleine L’Engle novels and plays for the screen. Your films to date include THE DARK HORSE, CAMILLA DICKINSON, WEST OF REDEMPTION, PORTAL RUNNER, and most recently, LANGUAGE ARTS. Which work are you most proud of?
Well, Madeleine used to be asked that same question all the time in Q-and-A sessions, when I was her assistant, and she would often say “That would be like asking me to choose between my three children!” I think the one I am most proud of is usually the one I am currently working on. However Language Arts is my most recent art-child, so of course it is getting a lot of hugs right now, since it has just premiered. And I love it so very much! It was the chance of a lifetime to get to adapt the novel, and an utter dream to get to make the film, with some of the most talented humans working today; a cast and crew of hundreds of brilliant, warm, generous people. I felt like the luckiest woman alive every day I got to work on that movie. Still do. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
What led you to Language Arts?
Language Arts basically asks the question: how do we work to give more of a voice to those who (for whatever reason; autism and dementia, in the film) have lost their words, or who experience a challenge in having their voices be heard? How do we become allies, hoping to help enable them to speak the way they wish to, and work toward empowering their self-expression? How do we hear their stories, and help others to hear them as well?
As the parent of a person with autism, and as an ally to people with autism, in both my personal and professional lives, these questions are very near and dear to my heart. When I read the book, it just broke my soul open…in the right way. As I read it, I was enraptured by the story of a man who was trapped behind self-created walls, and I dove down with him, as he moved through a deep place of grieving, came slowly to life, and then transformed at the end of the story. That is a journey that I hope and pray the movie can lead us through, as well.
When a member of the audience lets me know that I have connected with them, I feel that all the years of work I have put into making a film are worth it. There’s no better feeling in the world. We had a ‘sneak peak’ audience for Language Arts, after which an audience member, who parents a child with autism, reached out to let us know how much of her own life she saw in the film, and how important it was to her to see some of the challenges and joys from her life, and the lives of her children, represented in the story. That meant everything to me.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkSikr0fD8U
Language Arts Trailer
Was filming nostalgic for you?
What an interesting question. Yes, absolutely, because this is the story of a fictional family that is rather similar to my own. Stephanie Kallos, the author of the novel, did not write it about my own family, even though our families knew each other in Seattle, and even though the bits about toxic mold were taken directly from my family’s experiences, and even though my son was one of the eight real-life autistic kids that Stephanie modeled her two autistic characters on. She wrote a work of pure fiction that touched a very deep vein in my heart. And in many instances, though she did not know it, it felt to me as if she were writing about my family; and about me. I was in tears on set, many times a day, because the fine work of the actors and crew touched me so deeply.
One nostalgic moment for me was the scene in the family kitchen where the mother had to deal with an outburst from her son, who was going through a rough patch, and how the family then soothed each other, and recovered. Another poignant moment was the hospital scene, which was an echo of a scene from my own life. And yet another scene that really hit me hard was the last scene in the film, by the big tree, because it is a direct analog to my own life. My family has worked hard to create ways of being together that are a blessing for all of us. We have learned new ways of seeing, hearing, and including one another, as the boys have moved into adulthood. I am not saying that we are perfect, at all (!) – we are, of course, very broken people, but I think it is true that we have all made room for one another, and formed a strong, loving home-space within each others’ hearts, warmed and welcomed by acceptance. And that is one of the things I thank God for every day.
Tell us about the film.
Language Arts is about love, loss, and language. Charles Marlow teaches his high school English students that language will expand their worlds, but linguistic precision cannot help him connect with his autistic son, or with his ex-wife. He is drifting through his life on autopilot when one of his students proposes an art project involving autistic youth and senior dementia patients. With the help of his student, an Italian-speaking nun, and the memory of a boy in a white suit, who inscribed his childhood with both solace and sorrow, Charles tries to rewrite the script of his life.
This movie is dedicated to my sons, because they are my heroes; both the one with autism and the “neuro-typical” one. They have both bravely faced many odds, and triumphed over them, again and again. They go through the world as walking miracles of compassion, generosity, and good humor. I admire them more than I can ever express, and this film is theirs. They both appear in it in small roles, because I wanted their faces in it.
Looking at a blank page, is it symbolic of any moment in time, that we don’t know how to fill our blank pages?
For me, Language Arts is about that blankness we all experience right before we connect. Any artist – any maker of anything – has such moments; whatever you are making; a breakfast, a piece of pottery, a garden, a business, or a friendship. We are all makers, all the time. And we all share that blankness, in which the path forward seems vague, and hard to grasp – I think especially now, in the time we are all living in. It’s truly difficult to be a human these days, let alone actually make something. But we have to try to see through the blankness and fog, we have to step out in faith, and trust that a way forward will be made possible. It’s our job, no matter how hard things get. We can’t give up and just sit there. We have to have courage, and keep trying.
“The heartbeat guides your handwriting.” Explain?
A central image in the story of Language Arts is the “Palmer Method” of cursive writing, which is something of a lost art these days. Everything we write has its own rhythm, whether it is a sonnet in iambic pentameter, that gallops across the page, or a more prosaic grocery list. Writing in cursive loops is very soothing and centering. The circles and whorls are rounded and gentle, and I think the fact that the pen almost never leaves the paper, as one makes Palmer Loops, can lead one’s mind through calming, creative neurological pathways. Studies have shown that such loop-making can light up little-used pathways in the brain. I find this fascinating. The many images of circles in the story were central to my imagery. I saw them as sacred loops and spirals; a kind of holy, wordless language that makes sense, more and more, to the characters, and hopefully, to the audience, as the film progresses.
Is compassion the way to fill our blank pages?
I think the story of Language Arts shows us that if we look into another person’s eyes and truly see them – if we connect to their inner self; and take in their spirit – we will begin to love what we see, and not see them as foreign, or hard to understand. This is obviously a message that can be helpful in this particular time in history, which sometimes seems to only get louder, more angry, and more scary each day. If people can be willing to set aside the fearful thoughts that divide them from others, and try to listen, and do their best to see other people’s hearts and spirits more clearly, perhaps we will not be a country, and a world, so artificially split into opposing tribes. If we can calm down, give each other grace, and look at each other with eyes of acceptance, then maybe accusations, exclusions, and prejudices can be set aside, and an attitude of openness and inclusiveness can help save us. I believe it can.
What is your hope for Language Arts?
My hope is that the movie will touch people, as it has touched me, and that maybe it can open some eyes, and some hearts. I have lived inside the story for five years now, and it has profoundly changed and deepened me. I am much richer for having lived with Language Arts, and I hope others will be, too.
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