Hello friends: ”Shameless: The Art of Disability” is now available to view (free) at the National Film Board of Canada website! This iconic feature-length documentary about disability and creativity is a National Film Board of Canada production, directed by the noted documentarian, Bonnie Klein and released in 2008. It focuses on the stories and creative processes of four artistic people with disabilities, including myself, Persimmon Blackbridge, Catherine Frazee and Geoff McMurchy (and of course Bonnie herself). Enjoy!
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Quoting the NFB.ca film synopsis:
Art and activism are the starting point for a funny and intimate portrait of five surprising individuals with diverse disabilities. Packed with humour and raw energy, this film follows the gang of five from B.C. to Nova Scotia as they create and present their own images of their disabilities.
We’re very, very intrigued by inclusive travel consultant Craig Grimes‘ Barcelona-based first installments of the YouTube video series “Lap Packing.” We truly hope he continues to make them!
The 2009 Projections Film Forum “presents feature films, documentaries and shorts written, produced, directed or starring artists with disabilities.”
Judging by their official blurbs, this year’s selections are truly extraordinary.
So if you’re free tonight (Thursday, Oct. 8th) and/or this coming Saturday (Oct. 10th), definitely head down to Innis Town Hall in Toronto. An event not to be missed!!
dan habib supports his son, samuel habib, during a t-ball game in concord, nh. samuel uses a "bronco" all-terrain walker to hit and get around the bases. (photo credit: lori duff/concord monitor)
Before his son Samuel was diagnosed with cerebral palsy, photojournalist Dan Habib rarely thought about the inclusion of people with disabilities. Now he thinks about inclusion every day. His award winning documentary film, “Including Samuel,” chronicles the Habib family’s efforts to include Samuel in every facet of their lives. The film honestly portrays his family’s hopes and struggles as well as the experiences of four other individuals with disabilities and their families. Currently airing on Public TV nationwide, “Including Samuel” is his very personal effort to inspire the public—especially anyone connected to education—to talk about inclusion in a more informed and innovative way.
Samuel’s journey is the central thread through the film, and I wanted viewers to learn a lot about him beyond the fact that he has a disability: He wrestles with his brother. He loves t-ball. He wants to be an astronaut when he grows up. Yet Samuel is only nine, and including him will likely become more and more challenging as he grows up. So I also made this film to learn from the experiences of other people with disabilities who can look back on the choices they and their parents have made, and to see how these choices have shaped their lives.
When I was a teenager I fell in love with photography . . . The 57th Street galleries and the International Center of Photography were my places of worship. Work by great photographers filled the walls—Andre Kertsz, Susan Meiseles, Bruce Davidson, Josef Koudelka—there were dozens and dozens of exhibits every time I went to the city and I lapped it all up . . . In 1992 I took a course at the Maine Photo Workshop with Eugene Richards that changed the direction of my career, and led me to pursue longer documentary projects . . . As I’ve gotten older my heroes are not photographers now as much as they are great documentarians, activists and change agents: Studs Terkel. Martin Luther King. Helen Keller. Lincoln. Rosa Parks. FDR. Obama. The many, many great disability rights leaders working right now for change. And it may sound corny, but my wife and two boys inspire me more than anyone else living or dead.
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“Including Samuel” will air on PBS World on October 9. (See listings here). Watch a 12-minute clip from the film:
In 1977, 150 disabled people and their supporters held a historic 26-day sit-in at the San Francisco Federal Building to demand legislation protecting people with disabilities as equals. These activists succeeded in obtaining the signing of regulations implementing Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. In essence, a federal law was passed designed to protect the rights of individuals with disabilities in programs and activities that receive Federal financial assistance. The legislation was not perfect, but it mattered very, very much. And some even say it was the “public birth” of a movement.
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Watch this riveting, award-winning two-part documentary to learn all about it:
Quoting the Footsteps of a Nobody promotional flyer:
[Footsteps of a Nobody is] a powerful one woman rock-musical both written and performed by Donna Williams, author of the international best seller, Nobody Nowhere: Autobiography of an Autistic Girl. This is a unique opportunity to witness the author herself perform a story that has changed the lives of millions. Through vibrant song, characterisations, gestural signing, evocative spoken word, and musically supported by the band, The Aspinauts, Donna takes us on a journey from a seemingly deaf, psychotic, ‘feral’ child to life on the streets and ultimately on to her fight for equality among others.
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Quoting Donna Williams:
I’m really buzzed at the news that I’ll get to perform my one-woman-musical, Footsteps of a Nobody, in the US in Jan 2010. With musical support from a wonderful accomplished pianist, David Moscoe, it looks like I’ll be able to bring the show to Long Beach, LA and then I’ll fly on to New Jersey to perform it with the support of a second pianist. Whilst not musically supported by The Aspinauts this time around, it will be a great chance to bring the show to hundreds of people who’d otherwise not get to see it. I know the first performance will be on January 10th 2010 in Long Beach as part of a whole day conference hosted by Rita Rubin, the mother of Sue Rubin whose groundbreaking documentary, Autism Is A World, made it to the Oscars and broke down many myths about Facilitated and Augmented Communication used by people without functional verbal speech.
WHEN: Saturday and Sunday January 9-10, 2010
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TOPICS: “A Glimpse Into the Autistic Mind” – (People with autism describing their experiences & researchers explaining how & why these occur.)
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WHERE: Long Beach Memorial Medical Center 2801 Atlanatic Ave., Long Beach, CA 90806
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TIMES: 8:30 A.M. to 4:30 P.M.
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ORGANISER: Greater Long Beach/ San Gabriel Valley Chapter Autism Society of America
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FOR MORE INFO: brubin698@earthlink.net or ca-longbeach@autismsocietyofamerica.org; 562 943-3335 or 1-877-AUTISM9; www.greaterlongbeach-asa.org
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PLEASE NOTE: There will also be a theatre show in LA on the 12th and 13th of Jan 2010 and a show at a conference in New Jersey which I think will be on the 16th Jan.
Many, many, MANY hats off to Jeff Preston for making this truly fantastic online documentary chronicling the lack of accessible transportation in London, Ontario and across the province. Follow Jeff on his mission to bring about change the disabled population desperately needs by driving his wheelchair over 650km from his home in London, Ontario to the nation’s capital in Ottawa.
“Hell: so much fun, you’ll want to go there yourself.”
Lewis Schofield, Irked Magazine’s much-loved Alphabet Souperintendent, recently took an unforgettable (and very funny!) trip to Hell, Michigan. This is the first in a series of travel videos by Lewis:
