Last year, I saw a documentary at the
Sidewalk Film Festival in Birmingham,
Alabama. It's called "Darius Goes West".
Truthfully, the reason I went to it was
because it was the only film playing at
the festival at the time and I had an
all-access pass. But within the first ten
minutes, I realized how lucky I was that
that was the case. By the end, everyone in
the theater had cried, laughed, and
cheered out loud. And it wasn't just us. I
read that the doc took home over 25 awards
on last year's film festival circuit.
It's about a 15 year-old (Darius) with
Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy and a road
trip that he takes with eleven of his
friends in an attempt to get his
wheelchair customized on the MTV show
"Pimp My Ride".
Not only is the film full of comedy,
dedication, talent, and love, but it also
raises awareness about wheelchair
accessibility in the US as well as
awareness about the disease, Duchenne,
which, as I'm sure many of you know, is
the number one genetic killer of children
in the world. I wasn't even aware of the
disease prior to learning about Darius.
The tagline of the film is: "Life, even
when imperfect, is always worth the ride."
This message resonates throughout the
film, and long after the it ends. And
though there are some emotional parts, the
film is anything but a downer.
If only there were more film-makers who
understood the power of the entertainment
industry and set out to be dream-makers
like Darius Weems.
