Blog [with]tv

Disability Film Festival - Superfest 2007

Written and submitted by Day Al-Mohamed
Cross-posted on Day in Washington

On June 2 and 3 of this year, the Gaia Arts Center in downtown Berkeley held the Superfest 27. According to their website, Superfest is the longest running International Disability Film Festival. Sponsored by Culture!Disability!Talent! (CDT), a non-profit organization made up of performers, artists, and media makers with disabilities and their supporters, Superfest had entries from seven countries and representing over a dozen different disabilities.

Obviously, I’m a bit late with this post, not finding out about Superfest until just recently. There seems to be an interesting collection of disability films such as:

The Epidemic by Neils Frandsen which won the Best of Festival Award. The film is a memoir of Frandsen’s life covering the Copenhagen polio epidemic of 1952 and how it impacted him, his family and his country.

No Bigger Than A Minute, by Steven Delano won the Excellence Award & Spirit Award given to a work of exceptional quality by a filmmaker with a disability. He combines historical footage with interviews and commentary by well known Hollywood actors such as Peter Dinklage (”The Station Agent”) and Meredith Eaton (”Boston Legal”), musicians, rappers, and comedians to develop a colorful, irreverent portrait of how dwarves or “people of short stature” have been represented on screen since the silent film era.

I have to admit, because of how this would tie into my interest of how the media portrays people with disabilities, this is one that I have a definite interest in.

There are several other winners from both inside and outside the United States but what really caught my attention was the Pamela K. Walker award winner. The award was given to German filmmaker Sven Werner for his short ‘Planet of the Blind’ about the experience of life with blindness. It is described as a filmic homage to our very own [with]tv supporter, Stephen Kuusisto’s best-selling poetic memoir.  I’m curious to know how the film reflects what is in the book.

Links - 

No Bigger than a Minute – PBS site: http://www.pbs.org/pov/pov2006/nobiggerthanaminute/about.html

There is some additional video with performers and how they feel about representing “little people” and “dwarfs” in film and on television:  http://www.pbs.org/pov/pov2006/nobiggerthanaminute/special_clips.html

The Epidemic on the Danish Film Institute site:  http://www.dfi.dk/english/Danish+films/Directors/filmFact.htm?FilmID=1008

Showing All Sides of Yourself

Written by Day Al-Mohamed
Cross-posted at Day in Washington

Article from 'Backtage - The Actor's Resource'

The link above includes the responses from several Latino actors and others in the film and television business for their thoughts on the industry - from obstacles and expectations through inspirations and successes and advice. What is interesting is how much their replies mirror some of the frustrations of people with disabilities in trying to get into film and television and reminds us that we have to 'go beyond' to make sure we are seen as professionals capable of playing an extensive breadth of characters
and not just "disability" roles.

In particular, I would like to quote Yareli Arizmendi who has been in films such as A Day Without a Mexican, Fast Food Nation, Like Water for Chocolate and was a regular on '24' as Karima Naiyeer, Reza's mother, in Season 2.

"Not only have I been discounted, but worse: not even considered for a role I know I could have filled to the nines. In its search for efficiency, the Hollywood casting system - addicted to Breakdown Services and a factorylike production schedule - is by nature one that discounts actors by ethnicity, age, abilities or disabilities, gender - in short, everything tat makes up a person's physical image. It takes a creative, not-so-incredibly-pressed-for-time casting director and/or agent to think outside the box, to give an actor a chance to show producers/directors an angle not yet discovered by the system. As an  actor, one is responsible for finding 1,001 ways of showing all sides of yourself."

The article itself is long with some great information from a wide variety of very talented actors. Let me close this post with some great advice from Jorge Garcia who has been in Lost, Deck the Halls, and Becker.

"Actors, do what you can to get in the room. Get invited to the party first, and change their minds later. Just get there, because a lot of it is a numbers game, and you need to meet enough of them before they start seeing you for who you really are and seeing what they have to get you work.  Everyone's got an obstacle against them, even pretty people. Get in the room and convince enough of them that finally something happens and you get called in for the right part at the right time. That's when the magic
happens."

Disability is still very much on the periphery when it comes to maintream media, but there is no reason things have to stay that way!

This Accessible Channel is GOOD News!

The news of Canada’s National Broadcast Reading Service granting a broadcast license to The Accessible Channel is good news for all Canadians, whether they are people with disabilities or not. It is also good news for us at [with]tv. While it can be looked upon as a competitor, at least internationally, it should help us demonstrate to our potential investors that there is a “method to our madness”. One has to admire and respect the immediate source of funding, since they are a must carry channel.

Now if in addition to all else we need to do, we can convince our own representatives of key departments of our federal government (FCC, Justice, Labor, HEW, Defense, Homeland Security, Social Security, Veteran Affairs) how critical the need for accessible news, information, and all other forms of content is to our community and how it is totally disenfranchised when it comes to mainstream media perhaps we will be able to get in our corner these elements of the government while also convincing some of our own cable system distributors the wisdom from a business perspective of partnering with our efforts at [with]tv.

Howard Renensland
CEO & Founder
[with]tv
hrenensland@with-tv.com

Thank you, Day Al-Mohamed, for bringing this to our attention.

Disabled Peoples Assembly Film Series

Submitted by Day Al-Mohamed

The 7th annual DPI World Assembly in Korea has a small film festival attached to it. The mission of the Assembly is for people with disabilities from around the world to have the opportunity to meet and discuss the various status’ of people with disabilities in their countries, and to consider various progress plans together, share best practices, adopt resolutions and to basically share information.

Their side event of a Disability Film Screening includes 9 films. Most are from Korea and unfortunately I couldn’t find out much about them; Google translator isn’t quite ready for Korean. But there were two American films.

39 Pounds of Love

This film is about Ami Ankilewitz who was born with spinal muscular atrophy. A doctor told his parents he might live for six years; the film starts at his 34th birthday. The film follows him on his journey to fulfill his dreams: to visit his brother in America, to ride a Harley, and to find that doctor and tell him he was wrong.

Links:

39 Pounds of Love Official Website (Not screenreader accessible)

Roger Ebert Movie Review

Bethel - Community and Schizophrenia in Northern Japan

This film is about a small fishing town on the northern island of Hokkaido where the Bethel House organization supportsa small but vibrant group of people with schizophrenia and other psychosocial disabilities. Through various work programs, group homes, and a close relationship with the hospital and town, Bethel’s members slowly reintegrate into Japanese society. The film explores how the members of Bethel struggle with their lives, their problems, and the meaning of community.

Links:

Website for Bethel

Bethel Director’s Personal Blog

What I think is important and what I want to draw attention to, is the growing number of conferences and festivals that have added side presentations, sessions and events on disability film. Yay! Hopefully, eventually we will be seeing more people with disabilities not only in film at these “disability events” but more people with disabilities making movies and these films at all film festivals and events.

Main Event Link:  
7th annual DPI World Assembly in Korea

Cross-posted at Day in Washington