Left Behind (2025)
- Sat, Feb 8
- Sun, Feb 9
Director: Anna Toomey Run Time: 77 min. Release Year: 2024
Country: United States
Language: English
About the film:
“Powerful…Inspiring…Left Behind is an urgent call to action to help dyslexic kids.” – Anderson Cooper, CNN
Left Behind tells the powerful story of a group of passionate mothers who unite to create the first public dyslexic school in New York City, the largest school district in the country.
Dyslexia impacts one in five children worldwide, yet while 20% of the population has this learning difference, a staggering 48% of incarcerated individuals are dyslexic. Families without financial means often lack access to essential testing and tailored curricula that their children desperately need. In a city like New York, where 70% of students are Black and Brown, around 200,000 children are left without the support they need to thrive. Kareem Weaver, who heads the Education Committee for the NAACP in Oakland, CA, and a key figure in our film, calls this the defining civil rights issue of our time.
About the filmmaker:
Anna Toomey is an independent filmmaker who started her career as an Emmy Award-winning producer for ABC News, Good Morning America, ABC News long-form unit, and Peter Jennings Reporting. She worked on projects including The Gun Fight, an inside look at the NRA, The Century, Beatles Anthology, and the six-part series In the Jury Room. Anna, developed and directed her first feature length independent documentary Left Behind after her son was diagnosed with dyslexia and she discovered the inadequate resources for millions of children across the country. She owns her own production company, Sandy Dog Productions, where she works on independent film projects.
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