Directing
Michael Joseph McDonald
Known for
Directing
Credits
3 titles
Michael Joseph McDonald is a filmmaker and writer whose work explores disability, belonging and the relationships between individuals and their communities. His films include the documentary short 6,000 Waiting (2021), which he wrote, directed and edited, and the animated short Freebird (2021). McDonald’s international documentary work includes As I Am, a series developed in collaboration with people with intellectual disabilities. His approach, which he calls adaptive filmmaking, adapts production methods to the communication and participation needs of the people involved. Before filmmaking, he worked as a caregiver and ghostwriter in France & Kenya. He is the founder of the nonprofit Ever…
Known for
9.0Freebird is the coming-of-age story of Jon, a boy with Down Syndrome who learns to navigate the world with a loving mother, an absent father, a classroom bully, and a life-long crush. In just five minutes, we watch 45 years of his life flash by.
Freebird
2021
10.0Three Georgians with cerebral palsy fight to live life on their own terms. But as their families bind together, state policy tries to tear them apart.
6,000 Waiting
2021
Behind the camera
9.0Freebird is the coming-of-age story of Jon, a boy with Down Syndrome who learns to navigate the world with a loving mother, an absent father, a classroom bully, and a life-long crush. In just five minutes, we watch 45 years of his life flash by.
Freebird
2021
10.0Three Georgians with cerebral palsy fight to live life on their own terms. But as their families bind together, state policy tries to tear them apart.
6,000 Waiting
2021
10.0Three Georgians with cerebral palsy fight to live life on their own terms. But as their families bind together, state policy tries to tear them apart.
6,000 Waiting
2021