Movies - Dec. 18, 1989

A Film Goes to Washington: There will be a Capitol Hill screening of Miramax Films’ critically hailed film “My Left Foot,” the story of Ireland’s late disabled artist Christy Brown, on Feb. 6 to focus attention on the proposed American Disabilities Act. The legislation, which Congress will vote on sometime after it reconvenes in January, is a sweeping mandate to end discrimination against the disabled in the workplace and to bring them into America’s economic and social mainstream. Actor Daniel Day-Lewis, director Jim Sheridan and members of the Brown family from Dublin will attend the screening, which will include a rally in support of the legislation. In the film, Day-Lewis plays Brown, who had cerebral palsy but became a painter and writer while able to move only his left foot. According to director Sheridan, Day-Lewis learned to paint with his left foot, stayed in his wheelchair from morning to night and had other people feed him his meals in order to immerse himself in the role.