Diverse experiences of six Canadians living with Down syndrome highlighted in new documentary

The ‘Unified Voices’ documentary highlights the daily lives of six Canadians living with Down syndrome. Jeremie Charron reports.

Inside Zuleeats in Windsor, Ghanaian cuisine and culture are on full display — from savoury pies to sweet treats.

At the centre of it all is Jasmine Ankamah, a 24-year-old who has taken on a key role at the family business while challenging expectations about what life with Down syndrome can look like.

“She doesn’t want anybody doing her job, it’s her job,” said Jasmine’s mother, Zule. “I go, we’re a team, we’re a team, we have to help each other. She really enjoys her job.”

Jasmine’s story is now being shared with a wider audience through the documentary Unified Voices, which follows her life alongside five other Canadians living with Down syndrome.

The film aims to challenge what filmmaker Moses Latigo Odida calls the “single story” often associated with the genetic condition — the idea that a diagnosis defines one’s experiences, abilities or future.

“It’s meant to maybe demystify any assumption that people might have that a diagnosis of Down syndrome plays out in life exactly the same way,” Odida said.

The documentary highlights how each person’s experience is shaped by factors including culture, geography, race, language and community.

Odida said the goal is to encourage a more complete understanding of people living with Down syndrome.

“To invite the public to have a fairer view, to have a more realistic view of the complexity of a demographic of the population that they otherwise wouldn’t,” he said. “So it’s an opportunity for education.”

The film was created by the Canadian Down Syndrome Society, which said the project was designed to showcase the lives and contributions of people with Down syndrome across the country.

“These individuals are part of their communities, they have a rich life and we wanted to showcase them,” said Laura, with the society.

For Jasmine and her family, seeing her story on screen has been a source of pride.

“I’m proud,” Jasmine said.

Her mother said watching her daughter reach this point has gone beyond anything the family imagined.

“It’s beyond anything that we ever thought she was going to do,” she said.

The family hopes the message people take away is simple.

“All they need is love, and we all do. We all need love.”

The documentary also features the stories of 25-year-old Carmella Boutin from Moosomin, Saskatchewan; 40-year-old Elisabeth Faucher of Sherbrooke, Quebec; Marshall Wilcox, a 20-year-old from Vancouver, British Columbia; 18-year-old Mykola Miniyuk from Halifax, Nova Scotia; and Blake Shepley, an 8-year-old from London, Ontario.

You can watch their full stories on the Unified Voices website.