Private Project

Teacher of Patience

Over 20 years after Emily Felter is diagnosed with Down syndrome, paramedic (and Emily's father) Tom develops a presentation to share her story with other first responders. As the Felters work to raise disability awareness, they come face-to-face with the struggles and joys of their daily lives.​

Press Kit: https://www.teacherofpatience.com/press-kit.html

Captions and audio descriptions are available for the entire film.

Please see our files & attachments section for a digital press kit, which includes a trailer, stills, and much more.

Website: www.teacherofpatience.com
Email: teacherofpatiencefilm@gmail.com

  • Carmen Vincent
    Director
    Forever A Champion, Take Life As It Comes, I'm Transgender
  • Carmen Vincent
    Producer
    Forever A Champion, Take Life As It Comes, I'm Transgender
  • Emily Felter
    Key Cast
  • Tom Felter
    Key Cast
  • Tina Felter
    Key Cast
  • Heidi Reinberg
    Executive Producer
    Born to Be, 93 Queen
  • Carmen Vincent
    Editor
    Forever A Champion, Take Life As It Comes, I'm Transgender
  • Véronique Doumbé
    Consulting Editor
    Woman to Woman, Denis A. Charles
  • Evan Knowles
    Associate Producer
  • Carmen Vincent
    Camera
    Forever A Champion, Take Life As It Comes, I'm Transgender
  • Liz Wuerffel
    Camera
    Kawergosk: Home Made of Cloth, The Four Hijabs
  • Katelyn Calhoun
    Camera
    Hellbender In The Blue, Gamers In The Wild
  • Zack Thorpe
    Sound Mixer
    Married at First Sight, 30 for 30, Say I Do
  • Jason Arnold
    Composer
    Machine by Becky Beamer, Toxic Flower, Jake Limone
  • Willow Walsh
    Production Assistant
    Welcome Project
  • Carlos Luna
    Production Assistant
  • Andrew Redick
    Production Assistant
  • Brittany Alsot
    Online Post-Production Consultant
    A Meal With Dad, Tides
  • Allie Ames
    Colorist
    Mary Poppins Returns, Robin Williams: Come Inside My Mind, WeWork: Or the Making and Breaking of a $47 Billion Unicorn, Her
  • Cory Coken
    Supervising Sound Editor
  • Jamie Vanadia
    Re-Recording Mixer
  • Jeff Ryan
    Sound Design
  • Joseph Vnuck
    Backgrounds Editor
  • Katie Waters
    Foley Artist
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Short
  • Genres:
    Documentary, Short
  • Runtime:
    28 minutes 19 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    April 1, 2022
  • Production Budget:
    10,500 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Slamdance Film Festival
    Park City, Utah
    United States
    January 23, 2023
    Official Selection
  • Indy Shorts International Film Festival, Presented by Heartland Film
    Indianapolis, IN
    United States
    July 24, 2022
    World Premiere
    Official Selection
  • Oregon Documentary Film Festival
    Portland
    United States
    August 21, 2022
    Best Documentary Film Award Finalist
  • Portland Film Festival
    Portland, OR
    United States
    October 12, 2022
    Official Selection
  • Hobnobben Film Festival
    Ft. Wayne, IN
    United States
    October 16, 2022
    Official Selection, Nominee for Best Short Documentary
  • Prospector International Film Festival
    Connecticut
    United States
    October 2, 2022
    Best Short Documentary Award
Director Biography - Carmen Vincent

Carmen Vincent is a documentary filmmaker based in Northwest Indiana with a passion for telling stories that amplify often-misunderstood human experiences.

While Midwestern through-and-through, she has worked with clients and told stories from across the country and in the United Kingdom and Palestine. She is a Nikon Storytellers Scholar, a selected participant of RespectAbility's 2021 Lab for Entertainment Professionals with Disabilities, and a proud recipient of the Best International Director award at the Georgia Documentary Film Festival for her short documentary, Forever A Champion.

She uses her experience with non-visible disabilities, including OCD and ADHD, to pursue her work with creativity, empathy, and curiosity. Because of these disabilities, she is skilled at divergent thinking, attention to detail, and identifying the value in people. Carmen is committed to challenging stigma by proving that people with disabilities like hers are reliable, talented, and effective creators.

Carmen holds a bachelor’s degree in Digital Media from Valparaiso University and she participates in numerous professional organizations such as FWD-Doc, D-Word, Duneland Chamber, NATAS Chicago/Midwest, and more.

Website: www.carmenvincent.com
Email: carmenvincentfilms@gmail.com

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

While Teacher of Patience started as a no-budget passion project, it quickly grew into an ambitious undertaking with a budget, full crew, and impact campaign. We've made it our mission to get this film in front of as many first responders' eyes as possible through our growing partnerships, community impact screenings, training programs, and national outreach efforts.

This film will always be special to me because the Felters gave me the knowledge and confidence that I needed to learn about the disability community. Soon after, I became more comfortable talking about my experiences with OCD and ADHD. I began to get involved in the disability community and learn more about myself. Now, I am a proud self-advocate, a FWD-Doc member, RespectAbility Lab alum, and a disability conversation moderator.

While capturing the Felters story, they showed me that it's possible to be transparent and vulnerable about the struggles and joys of disability, while also highlighting the million other things that make a person a person. We are so quick to judge each other, so quick to point fingers and condemn each other, and I hope that this film makes a good case for why we all deserve to be treated with a little more patience and empathy. There's so much more to us than our labels, and that's my greatest takeaway from making this film.