10 Things You'll Find at Superfest 2019 that You Won't Anywhere Else- but Should!

Superfest 2019 is Coming Up!

 

As we gear up for Superfest Disability Film Festival 2019, we wanted to share key features of the films in the festival that excite us and that are changing the way we see disability. So, in this Buzzfeed-style feature, we present 10 things you’ll find in #Superfest2019 films that you won’t get anywhere else - but should! 

 

And don’t forget to buy your tickets to Superfest now before they sell out!

 

1. PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES AS MAIN CHARACTERS 

 

A woman in a wheelchair looks unamused as hands touch all over her body praying for her

Gaslit- Best of Festival Short Film

 

A young disabled woman fights to hold on to her identity in the face of the world’s assumptions and strives for independence from her parents, who doubt her ability to

become a mother.

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. DISABILITY FRIENDSHIPS

 

A person sits on their couch with a smile and holds a pillow that reads “Life is Better When I’m With My Dog.” A television remote control lays next to them.

Stinky Chicken Dog 2

 

This film explores the complex and beautiful relationships between people with disabilities and their animals through an interview between a service dog owner and a companion pet owner who tell their story of a tense relationship with her formerly abused and traumatized pet Chihuahua.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 3. PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES WHO ARE ALSO QUEER AND/OR PEOPLE OF COLOR

 

Song for Rent, After Jack Smith

 

Shot on 16mm film and with a loop of Kate Smith singing “God Bless America” in the background, in this adaptation of a 1969 film by Jack Smith, Barbarella Bush joins Rose Courtyard – a drag character based on Rose Kennedy - in a campy exploration of US hegemony, queer assimilation, and queer disruption.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4. DISABILITY AND DISCRIMINATION

 

Chuskit- Best of Festival Feature

 

A young girl’s dream of going to school is cut short when she becomes a paraplegic after an accident and she’s subsequently confined to life indoors in the company of her strict grandfather. As the story unfolds, our protagonist  battles against the limitations imposed upon her to create the life she wants for herself.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5. INTERDEPENDENCE (AS CONTRASTED TO INDEPENDENCE)

 

A human-like figure cut from a blank sheet of paper stands alone with wrinkled paper at their feet. A couple of paper trees are next to them.

Tis

 

A still, blank sheet of paper. A silhouette appears delineated beneath its surface. Here is our hero, TIS. He struggles and manages to free himself from the sheet of paper, but his feet remain attached to it. In the distance, he sees a crowd of beings similar to him. TIS tries to catch up with them but the sheet of paper he is attached to hinders his movements.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

6. PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES FACING DIFFICULT REAL-LIFE SITUATIONS

 

The Gallery

 

At an audition, Maya becomes part of an absurd cycle, and loses track of who she's performing for and why. The Gallery is a narrative short that explores how some marginalized groups can be shut out of cultural institutions, and how they can feel pressured into perpetuating a system that doesn't appear to be working in their favor.

 

 

 

 

 

7. CHARACTERS/PEOPLE WHOSE IDENTITIES ARE NOT NECESSARILY THE MAIN DRIVING FORCE OR SOURCE OF CONFLICT FOR THE PLOT

 

Are You Volleyball

 

A story about asylum seekers displaced from war who live in limbo, hoping for a better home. They conflict with border soldiers everyday till a deaf-mute child becomes a catalyst for better communication between two groups.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

8. BUT ALSO, DISABILITY AS A CENTRAL POLITICAL AND SOCIAL ISSUE

 

A montage of American war themed images overlay each other. A few men are in colonial war attire and play the drums. An old train is decorated with American flags. A faded eagle on an American flag is centered in the photo.

The Invalid Corps 

 

This film brings the important and historically influential story of the Invalid Corps to the forefront: in July of 1864 the confederate army is at the gates of Washington DC and the only remaining defenders are clerks, government officials, and the Invalid Corps. A group comprised of men injured in battle or by disease, these “hopeless cripples” must hold out for a desperate 24 hours until the Union army can send reinforcements. With Lincoln himself on the ramparts, they cannot afford to fail. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

9. PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES' DAY TO DAY LIVES

 

A man is centered in a field of tall trees and holds a small sharp tool to cut the grass. He wears a hat and sits on his rear end as he works. His two legs are withered from polio.

The Man of the Trees- Advocacy Awards

 

Daniel Balima is a senior horticulturist from Tenkodogo, a small Sub-Saharan African town in Burkina Faso, where he lives with his large family and has worked since he was born 67 years ago. A polio survivor who walks on his hands, he inherits his father’s business running a nursery and has given life to more than a million trees during his life.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

An animation of a young girl runs with a stick in hand along the beach and marks the sand with it. She wears a dress, knee high socks, and flat shoes.

 

Late Afternoon

 

Emily finds herself disconnected from the world around her. She drifts back through her memories to relive different moments from her life. Emily must look to her past so that she may fully connect with the present. This animated, Oscar-nominated short offers an honest glimpse into the highs and lows of life with dementia. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

10. PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES AS DIRECTORS, PRODUCERS, WRITERS, AND ACTORS, TELLING THEIR OWN STORIES OR STORIES THAT ARE MEANINGFUL TO THEM PERSONALLY.

 

An animated woman holds her hand raised and in a balled fist. She has short bangs, large eyes, and a button up short sleeve shirt. Next to her is text that reads, “You know what? I’m going to go for it.”

Chin Up 

 

Throughout her childhood, JoAnne loved to draw herself as heroic characters to escape the insecurity and feeling of being different that came with her condition. However, JoAnne never drew her facial features any differently to fit the scene of a heroic warrior or mystical mermaid. This animated documentary touches on poignant milestones that have impacted JoAnne and made her the strong woman that she is today.

 

 

 

 

 

 

An animated penguin is sinking in a vast and empty ocean. There are bubbles forming above them.

The Penguin Who Couldn't Swim

 

This animated short, made by a disabled animator, follows the story of a penguin who lives on a rocky island in the southern seas where she feels isolated from the rest of her colony. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Two people in wheelchairs wear all black with only their arms and faces exposed. One of them holds their entire body and wheelchair as they hang themselves on a horizontal pole. The other is under the pole and watches the raised individual.

Inclinations

 

Choreographed, directed and shot from disability perspectives, this dance-on-video short contrasts the playful connections when disability aesthetics, community and a ramp meet the institutional histories and discordant inclinations that can lurk just below the surface.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
We look forward to seeing you at Superfest 2019: October 12th & 13th