Burt Petrone was born in New York State in the year 1921. He was born with developmental disabilities.

In the year 2001, at the age of 79, Burt agreed to sit in front of a camera with his wife Barbara and talk about his life. He gives a chronological history of his life and times beginning in 1936 when he was 15 years old. He has an incredible memory for dates and gives many specific dates as he tells his story. In the telling of his life story Burt combines historical events such as the first man on the moon and the John F. Kennedy assassination with personal events like getting punched in the eye and his wedding day.

Burt's monologue also gives insights into how people with mental retardation were treated in the United States from the 1930's through to the present time. He survived living in large institutions from the 30's through the 60's ,where he was treated terribly. Now in the present he is going on vacations with his wife every year and living in their own supervised apartment.

The video is also a love story of how Burt and Barbara met, courted and married and lived together for over 15 years. He is also a talented, self-taught musician and plays a few songs during the video, some of which he composed himself.

Burt is a video which portrays a man that survived decades of inhuman treatment to become a person who enjoys life to the fullest.

director: Anthony Di Salvo
Anthony is the founder and Executive Director of Sprout. He has worked with people with developmental disabilities since 1979. In 1995 he began making videos using people with developmental disabilities in all the major roles. He has made 12 videos; narratives, documentaries and animations, which have been shown in many film festivals throughout the US and Europe. He also runs workshops on how to work with actors with developmental disabilities.
In 2003 he founded the Sprout Film Festival, and in 2006 he started touring the United States and Europe with the film festival.

Another of his videos, made though Sprout’s Make-A-Movie Program is also being screened at the 2008 Sprout Film Festival:

Sheri and Paul
Saturday May 10
Program 3:
11:00am - 12:30pm