Unforgotten: 25 Years After Willowbrook
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Jack Fisher
Danny Aiello
Geraldo Rivera
Michael Cohen
Danny Fisher
Hayes Greenfield
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
It was a nightmare that shocked not only New York, but all of America. The public outcry about the Willowbrook School (on Staten Island) for people with developmental disabilities resulted from Geraldo Rivera's award-winning series on WABC-TV in 1972. Viewers were stunned by coverage of residents with mental retardation and developmental disabilities sprawled naked on feces covered floors, being forced to eat their meals in two to three minutes, living and breathing filth. Willowbrook's idea of a shower was to gather 60 residents in a tiled room and hose them down. The public's outrage was so intense, that by 1975, a Federal Court ordered that institutional care be phased out and replaced with community based settings. The mentally retarded would no longer be shuffled off into "lunatic asylums." Instead, they would be given every opportunity to lead as constructive a life as possible.
Director
Jack Fisher
Crew
Michael Cohen
Danny Fisher
Hayes Greenfield
Mark Kroll
Eric Lau
Constantine Limperis
Matthew Mallinson
Rich Mauro
Alan Mcpheely
Katie Meskell
Shelly Toscano
Stuart Warmflash
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Miscellaneous Notes
Released in United States Fall October 25, 1996
Released in United States February 14, 1997
Director Jack Fisher began his career with the critically acclaimed documentary "A Generation Apart" (USA/1983), about the impact of the Holocaust on the families of survivors. He made his theatrical film debut with "Torn Apart," a film about an Israeli soldier who falls in love with an Arab woman. Producer Danny Fisher has worked on such features as Nicholas Ray's "We Can't Go Home Again," Ron Maxwell's "The Night the Lights Went Out In Georgia," and two films by Wim Wenders: "Lightning Over Water" and "The State of Things." He produced "A Generation Apart" and "Torn Apart." In 1982 the brothers co-founded City Lights Productions.
The film was sponsored by HeartShare Human Services of New York, a non-profit organization that has pioneered educational, residential and recreational services for children and adults with developmental disabilities.
Released in United States February 14, 1997 (Angelika 57; New York City)
Released in United States Fall October 25, 1996
