Premieres on NETFLIX Friday June 14
Winner- Best Documentary Feature- 2023 Hamptons International Film Festival
Winner – Best Documentary Award – 2023 Montclair Film Festival
Executive Produced by Louis Theroux, Directed by Nick August-Perna
Tell Them You Love Me explores the story of Anna Stubblefield, an esteemed Rutgers university professor who becomes embroiled in a controversial affair with Derrick Johnson, a non verbal man with cerebral palsy. Anna says she unlocked Derrick’s mind from his body by teaching him to communicate using a keyboard.
The relationship that followed would lead to a high profile criminal trial that would challenge our perceptions of disability and the nature of consent. Through exclusive footage and interviews with those on both sides of the case, this feature documentary weaves a riveting and endlessly nuanced story about communication, race, and sex.
Features exclusive interviews with
ANNA STUBBLEFIELD – Former professor of philosophy and disability studies at Rutgers University
SANDRA MCLENNEN – Anna’s mother. Psychologist, retired Professor, advocate for individuals with neurological and physical disabilities
DERRICK JOHNSON – Derrick is a lifelong resident of Irvington, NJ, a student in an adult day program, his lived disabilities and experience are the central focus of the film
JOHN JOHNSON – Derrick’s brother. Assistant Professor of History at St. Peter’s University
DAISY JOHNSON – Derrick and John’s mother
DEVVA KASNITZ – Adjunct Professor of Disability Studies at the City University of New York. Anthropologist. Author
DR. HOWARD SHANE – Director of the Autism Language Program and Communication Enhancement Program at Children’s Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts. Former director of the Institute on Applied Technology, and associate professor at Harvard Medical School
ROSEMARY CROSSLEY – One of the first major advocates of facilitated communication and disability rights. Former director of the Anne McDonald Centre near Melbourne, Victoria, which provides assessment and augmentative communication services
PRODUCTION COMPANY: Mindhouse and Nick August-Perna Films
DIRECTOR: Nick August-Perna
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Arron Fellows & Louis Theroux
PRODUCERS: Nick August-Perna, Tamara Rosenberg, Andrea Debrito
CONSULTANT PRODUCER: Leroy F Moore Jr.
EDITOR – Seth Bomse
PRODUCTION MANAGER: Rachel Duncan
PRODUCTION EXECUTIVE: Suzy Burnet
