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Tuesday, December 10
6:00 PM - 8:30 PM

Center for American Progress

1333 H Street NW, Washington, DC 20005
Sold Out

Patrice: The Movie

Director

Ted Passon

Producers

Kyla Harris, Innbo Shim, Emily Spivack

Editor

Cinematographer

Patrice has finally found the love of her life, Garry, who is also disabled. They want nothing more than to get married, but if they do—or even if they just move in together—the government benefits they need to survive would be cut. Despite the scrutiny they’re under, they decide to plan a commitment ceremony that could risk their entire future.

While trying to scrape together the money for the ceremony, Patrice’s wheelchair-accessible van breaks down, and without it, she is forced to quit the job she spent years fighting for. She must figure out the impossible task of how to replace her van when she can’t have more than $2,000 in her bank account as a condition of the disability benefits she relies on.

As the commitment ceremony faces new challenges, a bill in Congress could finally change the “marriage penalty” plaguing Patrice and millions of disabled Americans. Patrice organizes her friends to rally in support of the bill.

Patrice’s present-day battles are informed by her past. With long-time friend, director Ted Passon, Patrice recreates scenes from her life, imbued with her art and her uniquely tragicomic joie de vivre. Starring a cast of children—with Patrice playing herself at every age—we see the struggles she endured to get the house, the job, and the life she’s now fighting to keep.

Screening made possible with the generous support of the deNovo Initiative.

Post-screening discussion with film protagonists Patrice Jetter and Garry Wickham, and film producer Innbo Shim, moderated by Mia Ives-Rublee, Senior Director for the Disability Justice Initiative at the Center for American Progress.

innbo-shim_portrait

Innbo Shim

Producer, Patrice: The Movie

Innbo Shim an award-winning film and television producer whose work encompasses themes of social justice and human complexity. She has produced documentary and narrative films with festival premieres at Sundance, Toronto, Tribeca, Busan, Rotterdam, Zurich, Venice, and Camerimage. Additionally, she has produced non-fiction projects for Netflix, ABC News Studios, Hulu, CNN Films, Discovery, A&E Films, National Geographic, and PBS. Select credits include Patrice: The Movie (World Premiere 2024 Toronto International Film Festival); Amend: The Fight for America, a 6-part series for Netflix with Will Smith; When Lambs Become Lions (Oscilloscope Films); We Will Rise: Michelle Obama’s Mission to Educate Girls Around the World (CNN Films). Innbo has worked with directors who work across narrative and documentary forms. Notable projects include Remote Control, directed by Byamba Sakhya (Mongolia); Rachel Getting Married and Jimmy Carter Man From Plains, directed by Jonathan Demme, and The Notorious Mr. Bout, directed by Tony Gerber and Maxim Pozdorovkin.