Everyday Activist - Once Upon a Time There Was a Man (MLJFF 2016)

Posted on Sunday, November 13, 2016 at 12:00 PM

Once Upon a Time There Was a Man (MLJFF 2016)

Movie Review by Everyday Activist X CalgaryMovies.com

The Banff Mountain Book and Film Festival had some amazing speakers this year. One of them was Paul Pritchard who suffered serious head trauma in a climbing accident that left him paralyzed. Despite his obvious impairment, he made the best of life including being able to get to the top of the Totem Pole which was the site of his unfortunate event.

In a similar journey, Once Upon a Time There Was a Man focuses on life of polio survivor, Mohammad who starts up a baby shampoo company in Iran that hires 90% disabled people. While the disease left him cripple, he had enough support and resources to develop companies to help others; true social enterprise.

From an early age Mohammed’s family supported him in going to school and fitting in with the other children, even when others thought it was a waste of time. This provided strong frame work for his idea that everyone can do everything if they have a little help from their community and that a disability can be seen as a gift. This attitude was echoed by Paul Pritchard at his talk in Banff. Everyone to some degree is disabled, whether we need glasses or braces or something else minor. These never hold us back from participating in life and nor should more serious conditions. At Mohammed’s baby shampoo factory many people can barely walk yet they have a place to work.

When I watched this, I wondered why he didn’t have machines to do much of the work. He answered my question in the movie by explaining that while a machine would make him more money his goals were about giving people a sense of self-worth through meaningful employment. Why buy a machine when Iran has so many people who want to work? His approach blew my mind not only as we live in a culture dominated by the almighty dollar, but also because we tend to take a paternalistic approach to those who need assistance. Here we would make a ton of money and then give it to the poor and disabled for a tax credit rather than take the time to implement longer term solutions.

At first Mohammad wanted to be a doctor to help people overcome their deficiencies, but soon found out that he could have a further reach through business arrangements. Given that he is disabled he knows what his workers need and want. After the success of the factory he has other projects planned and we look forward to seeing his journey to make the world a better place, continue. Once Upon a Time There Was a Man will screen at the Globe Cinema on Wednesday, November 16th at 12:15 pm as part of the Marda Loop Justice Film Festival 2016. 

Calgary Showtimes: Marda Loop Justice Film Festival 2016 > | Once Upon a Time There Was a Man >