Paul K. Longmore Institute on Disability - films

10 Things You'll Find at Superfest 2020 that You Won't Find Anywhere Else

Nathan Burns — Tue, 04 Aug 2020 18:27:22 +0000

Superfest 2020: Online!

It’s almost Superfest season, so mark your calendars for October 17 and 18 and check out the descriptions below! This year we’ll have our festival exclusively online, which will give us an opportunity to test some new formats and technologies, all with multiple forms of access in mind. Watch our upcoming mailings and social media for more details about tickets, program, opportunities for community conversations, and how it will all work.

For now, just know we can’t wait to share a terrific selection of cutting-edge disability films that will make you laugh, cry, groan, cheer, and take a welcome respite from the storm that is 2020. We all need this, and each other. So stay tuned!

Below, check out the films we'll be showing this year and things you'll find in them that you won't find anywhere else, but definitely should!

1. PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES AS MAIN CHARACTERS

Indimenticabile

Luna, who has Cerebral Palsy, and Angel, a sexworker, share an unusual story of love, which challenges the cages and the judgment of others.

Garden Variety

A mockumentary about a disabled person’s garden and his unwarranted admirers.

2. DISABILITY FRIENDSHIPS

Stand Up

For all her life, 30-year old Jazmine who uses a wheelchair has wanted to be an actress. Meeting Ruth, while navigating the tough world of stand-up comedy, she learns that accessibility isn’t just about physical space.

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

ReAct

A self-employed Japanese wheelchair dancer born with Spina Bifida confronts the elements, natural and human, in lyrical, unexpected ways.

My Grito - Juror’s Choice

A story about a young man, Cristian, and his love for mariachi music, which leads him to seek out his own grito for his communication device.

4. DISABILITY AND DISCRIMINATION

Wheelchair Wendy

An eager-to-please doll in a wheelchair is placed in the perfect world of the narcissistic Barbara, and must find a way to fit in or be thrown in the trash.

5. INTERDEPENDENCE (AS CONTRASTED TO INDEPENDENCE)

The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating - Innovation in Craft

When a woman is bedridden by a mysterious pathogen, a forest snail unexpectedly takes up residence on her nightstand. Together, they share an intimate journey of survival and resilience in this live-action true story, adapted from the award-winning memoir of the same title.

6. PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES FACING DIFFICULT REAL-LIFE SITUATIONS

Single

Kim, who was born with one arm, gets set up on a blind date. When she finally meets Jake, she quickly realizes he also has a physical disability, and she is pissed.

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

The Secret Life of Tom Lightfoot

Tom Lightfoot works at a call center that answers anybody’s questions about absolutely anything. The talented co-workers know an awful lot, except about Tom himself, who holds secrets inside. And studying for a PhD in bird migration isn’t even the half of it.

8. BUT ALSO, DISABILITY AS A CENTRAL SOCIAL ISSUE

Sign at All Times - Advocacy Film

A young skateboarder shares his journey to find pride in his Deaf identity.

Verisimilitude - Best of Festival: Narrative

A narrative short about an unemployed disabled actress who takes a job to advise an up-and-coming British film star on how to be disabled for his latest role. But will he win an award?

9. PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES' DAY TO DAY LIVES

High Flying Jade - Best of Festival: Documentary

Follow the true story of a bi-polar American white woman who tries to manage her unique brain chemistry by running away to join the circus in Hồ Chí Minh City.

Sweet Solace

A penniless, whimsical street musician smiles when two blind passersby encounter one another, catapulting all three into his imaginary world of movies and music.

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

Alternative Ways of Being Human

Used assistive devices take on second lives in this documentary about a passionate sculptor in Finland.

The God Given Talent

Blind Oakland poet, painter, playwright and teacher Charles Curtis Blackwell had a challenging upbringing in California and Mississippi. This sensitive documentary explores his current creative life rooted in loss, love, pain, and redemption.

More information will be coming soon. For now, mark your calendars for October 17 and 18, and start thinking about where you’ll order that popcorn!.

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films

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

Ginger Testerman — Tue, 24 Sep 2019 18:27:27 +0000

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

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

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)

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

Find out more about the films and get your tickets on the Superfest website!

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