Joshua Tate one of today’s young independent filmmakers says that in middle school he made silly videos with puppets for his English class. By the time he got to college he was challenged by what he saw the people around doing, and he turned to work involving human rights advocacy. By the time he left school with a degree in film from the University of Southern California, Josh was ready to get to some serious work.
His own family brought to his attention a need worth confronting. His uncle’s daughter with a disability had supportive parents who tried to give her as much independence and community interaction as possible. He was also aware that there were people in Texas less fortunate in their family circumstances who were living Forgotten Lives in institutions, hence his first award winning documentary film by that name. His fictional film is an adventure that addresses the issue of being institutionalized.
Josh has managed to align his intelligence, sweetness, humor and purpose to focus on issues not just important to him, which they are, but to issues important to all of humankind. To hear him talk about his work, his goals, his views and some of the particulars of filmmaking is to learn something personal and historical and have a good time doing it.
His love letter? As he chatted about the very remarkable woman ahead of her time who was his grandmother, as well as the talent and strength of the other women in his family, a love letter of historical and personal power emerged.