Debonair Dancers is a 1986 short American documentary film produced and directed by Alison Nigh-Strelich, and narrated by Jack Lemmon. It is about The Debonaire Special Dancers of Bakersfield, CA, a group started decades ago by John Soiu and continues today under the direction of Sheri Fortino. The group fosters social and life skills while stimulating creativity and confidence in the special needs students it serves. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Short.
The weekly brass band rehearsal is an enjoyable, light-hearted occasion. Then Mathew, the conductor, introduces James, a newcomer to the village, who is an enthusiastic bandsman from the north, where they do these things properly.
This film deals with the contrasts of the Wilhelminian era in Berlin: the splendor of the monarchy, the economic and intellectual vitality of the up-and-coming imperial capital on the one hand, and the misery of the proletarians in the tenements on the other.
Georgia Benfield, at her wit's end, loses control and begins physically abusing her elderly mother, just as Georgia had been abused herself as a child.
Beate Klarsfeld, a German Protestant housewife, who, with the help of her Jewish law-student husband, Serge, begins an unrelenting campaign after World War II to bring Nazi war criminals to justice.
Jessica's promising debut as a young artist is shattered by a sudden and violent death. She escapes into a restless succession of journeys whose encounters along the way bring humour, some comfort, but also danger.
Something very common in our days, an adolescent who does not find communication with her mother or stepfather falls into a depression that drags her down paths of difficult return.
Maria since childhood was directed by her father to become a nun. As a result of her father's cultivation of a rigid appreciation, Maria always feels awkward, including the delinquency that is common for a girl.
Plumber Martin and his younger colleague Frank are on call on Christmas Eve of all days. Frank's girlfriend Regina, who is expecting her first baby at any moment, is anything but thrilled.
Comments
Have you watched Debonair Dancers yet? What did you think about it?
