Without Pity: A Film About Abilities

1996 American TV series or program

Without Pity: A Film About Abilities

Written by| Michael Mierendorf
Directed by| Michael Mierendorf
Narrated by| Christopher Reeve
Country of origin| United States
Production
Executive producer| Sheila Nevins
Producer| Michael Mierendorf
Running time| 55 minutes
Production company| Michael Mierendorf Productions
Original release
Network| HBO
Release| October 8, 1996 (1996-10-08)

Without Pity: A Film About Abilities is a 1996 American television documentary film narrated by Christopher Reeve. This documentary celebrates the efforts of those with disabilities to live full, productive lives. It originally premiered on HBO on October 8, 1996.

## Summary

[edit]

The viewers meet a cross section of Americans in the film. A young woman with cerebral palsy who cares for her baby, while a man with cerebral palsy lives successfully on his own after 40 years in a Colorado institution. The film takes a trip to school with a remarkable 6-year-old boy without arms or legs, visits the workplace of a blind computer expert, and meets a professor with polio who teaches the history of discrimination against people with disabilities. A young man recently made paraplegic discusses his daily battle with depression and his determination and motivation to overcome it and get on with his life.[1]

This film applauds the resilience and potential of people with disabilities and their need to be determined to be self-sufficient.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Reeve Narrates 'Without Pity'". Reading Eagle. 6 Oct 1996. p. TV2. Retrieved 29 October 2013.

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Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Hosted Nonfiction Series or Special

1970s|

* The Body Human / The Great Whales: National Geographic Special (1978)
* Scared Straight! (1979)

1980s|

* The Body Human: The Magic Sense (1980)
* The Body Human: The Bionic Breakthrough / Steve Allen's Meeting of Minds (1981)
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* A Walk Through the 20th Century with Bill Moyers / America Remembers John F. Kennedy (1984)
* * Cousteau: Mississippi / The Living Planet (1985)
* Laurence Olivier: A Life (Great Performances) / Planet Earth / W.C. Fields: Straight Up (1986)
* Agnes, the Indomitable DeMille (Great Performances) / Smithsonian World / Unknown Chaplin (American Masters) (1987)
* Buster Keaton: A Hard Act to Follow (American Masters) / Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam / Nature (1988)
* Lillian Gish: The Actor's Life for Me (American Masters) / Nature (1989)

1990s|

* Bob Fosse: Steam Heat (Great Performances) / Broadway's Dreamers: The Legacy of the Group Theatre (American Masters) / Smithsonian World (1990)
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* Abortion: Desperate Choices / MGM: When Lions Roared (1992)
* Healing and the Mind with Bill Moyers / Lucy and Desi: A Home Movie (1993)
* I Am a Promise: The Children of Stanton Elementary School / Later with Bob Costas (1994)
* Baseball / One Survivor Remembers / Taxicab Confessions / TV Nation (1995)
* Survivors of the Holocaust / Time Life's Lost Civilizations (1996)
* Biography / The Great War and the Shaping of the 20th Century / National Geographic Special: Tigers of the Snow / Without Pity: A Film About Abilities (1997)

2010s|

* Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown / Inside the Actors Studio (2013)
* Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown / Vice (2014)
* Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown (2015)
* Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown (2016)
* Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath (2017)
* Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown (2018)
* Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown (2019)

2020s|

* Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath (2020)
* Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy (2021)
* Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy (2022)
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Between 1998–2012, the award was bestowed as Outstanding Nonfiction Series.

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HBO documentaries

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