One in a Thousand

“Mental subnormality here is no higher than in other countries. Still it strikes more than one in a thousand.” The subjects of this 1964 NFU documentary are intellectually disabled patients (mostly children) at a Levin psychopaedic hospital, and the trainee nurses who care for them. The narration embodies contemporary healthcare ideas where “retarded” children were seen as patients to be kept “happy among their fellows”, and sheltered from the outside world. By the 90s, institutions like this one (later renamed Kimberley) were overtaken by assisted living.

A child’s interest can be caught, but a wrong glance can send it trembling back into the vacant world behind dead eyes.

– From the narration

Key Cast & Crew

Ron Bowie

Director, Writer

Geoffrey Scott

Producer

Oxley Hughan

Producer

Ken White

Camera

Ron Skelley

Sound