Shameless: The Art of Disability

Art, activism and disability are the starting point for what unfolds as a funny and intimate portrait of five surprising individuals. Director Bonnie Sherr Klein (Not a Love Story, and Speaking Our Peace) has been a pioneer of women's cinema and an inspiration to a generation of filmmakers around the world. SHAMELESS: the ART of Disability marks Klein's return to a career interrupted by a catastrophic stroke in 1987. Always the activist, she now turns the lens on the world of disability culture, and ultimately, the transformative power of art.

The Current: Explore the Healing Powers of the Ocean

The Current tells the story of individuals from all walks of life that have faced incredible obstacles, found the drive to overcome their disabilities, and have through water sports become real everyday heroes. - Bethany Hamilton, Missy Franklin, Mallory Weggemann, Anthony Robles, Jesse Murphree

What Can You Do About It?

When filmmaker Yoshifumi Tsubota learns about his slightly autistic uncle who lives alone, he decides to visit him. Drawn to his uncle’s unique personality, he begins to roll his camera as he visits him over the years. Tsubota himself had been diagnosed with a developmental disability and so understanding his uncle is also an act of understanding himself. Through intimate and personal footage, this charming film is gem of a documentary that also highlights contemporary social issues surrounding aging and social care for the disabled.

La teoría del espiralismo

Watershed

This is the face of someone the world assumes was stripped of her potential at the age of 18. But tragedy is not Mallory Weggemann's reality. Suddenly paralyzed from the waist down, she was turned loose to become a Paralympic Champion and activist. As Mallory's story unfolds, we come to understand that it was because of, not in spite of, that moment that she discovered who she really is.

Whereabouts of Sound

As they play carefree music, their musicianship is met with surprise, wonder, and sometimes even laughter. Captivating all who watch, Otoasobi Project’s rich variety of expression reshapes the concept of improvised music. Formed in 2005 in Kobe, Japan, Otoasobi Project has some 50 members, including people with intellectual disabilities, musicians, and music therapists, who pursue music and well-being through improvised performances. After many years of numerous workshops, concerts, and other activities, they even held their first tour in the UK in September 2013. The movie “Whereabouts of Sound” depicts the appeal of the improvised music Otoasobi creates, and the beauty of its natural, honest expression.

Down n'hi do - La càmera ballarina

Is There Anybody Out There?

While navigating daily discrimination, a filmmaker who inhabits and loves her unusual body searches the world for another person like her, and explores what it takes to love oneself fiercely despite the pervasiveness of ableism.

Heavy Load

Documentary about punk band Heavy Load, subject to the combustible flux of ego, ambition, fantasy, expectation and desire that fuels any emerging band, but uniquely made up of musicians with and without learning disabilities. This makes the band's survival a precarious negotiation between two different worlds - on the one hand the institutional timetable of day centres, work placements and social workers and, on the other, the chaotic slacker life of rehearsal rooms, studios and gigs. (Storyville)

Prüdes Hollywood - Laster, Lust und Leidenschaft im Film

In recent years, Hollywood productions have turned away from sensuality. Is the sex scene on the verge of extinction or reinvention? Alongside film professionals and researchers, this documentary deciphers a trend that speaks volumes about the evolution of the industry and our societies.

Hawking: Can You Hear Me?

A documentary telling the remarkable human story of Stephen Hawking. For the first time, the personal archives and the testimonies of his closest family reveal both the scale of Hawking's triumphs and the real cost of his disability and success.

Fighters

Meet Matt Edwards, a lower-limb amputee boxer determined to break barriers and obtain his amateur boxing license—the crucial first step toward his dream of becoming a professional fighter. But the real fight isn’t just in the ring; it’s against a system that continues to put up obstacles, reflecting the everyday struggles disabled people face simply to be included in society.

Gosia@Tomek

What happens to a relationship if a partner suddenly becomes severely disabled after an accident? For Gosia it is clear that she will stand by her boyfriend Tomek no matter what in order to let him live as normal and fulfilled a live as possible. But time and again she becomes painfully aware of her own limits, as well as of those of a society that talks a lot about inclusion but often does not seem to be ready for it. GOSIA@TOMEK is based on more than 3000 emails that Gosia has been writing to Tomek daily since his accident.

Zie mij doen

Follows the lives of 6 adults with a disability in a care center. Over a year's time, each of them share their view of the world and how they cope with moods and looks.

All For One: Media Enabled Musketeers

People with disabilities are the largest minority in the United States (57 million people) and in Russia (13 million people). This film follows the adventures of Russians and Americans with disabilities, who like the characters in the Dumas novel, work together for the common good… but they wield cameras not sabers. They make films to empower themselves, educate the public, create more opportunities, and build friendship between the people of Russia and the United States.

Concerto For Other Hands

David dreams of being a pianist like his father, José Luis, who believes it impossible due to his son's physical characteristics: short arms, hands with four fingers and limited hearing. Thanks to his tenacity, David shows him that he can play in his own way and together they begin a musical path that culminates with a new challenge for David: premiering the difficult concerto for piano and orchestra that his father composed for him.

Elevator Pitch

A depiction of New York’s subway as an absurd obstacle course – revealing a system that shuts many out of a city in motion.

Poster Girl

POSTER GIRL is the story of Robynn Murray, an all-American Apple pie high-school cheerleader turned tough-as-nails machine gunner in the Iraq War and a “poster girl” for women in combat, distinguished by Army Magazine’s cover shot. Now Sgt. Robynn Murray comes home from Iraq, to face a new kind of battle she never anticipated. Her tough-as-nails exterior begins to crack, leaving Robynn struggling with the debilitating effects of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Shot and directed by first-time filmmaker Sara Nesson, POSTER GIRL is an emotionally raw documentary that follows Robynn over the course of two years as she embarks on a journey of self-discovery and redemption, using art and poetry to redefine her life.

Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story

Christopher Reeve portrayed the Man of Steel in four Superman films and played dozens of other roles that displayed his talent and range as an actor, before being injured in a near-fatal horse-riding accident in 1995 that left him paralyzed from the neck down. After becoming a quadriplegic, he became a charismatic leader and activist in the quest to find a cure for spinal cord injuries, as well as a passionate advocate for disability rights and care.

Changing Gears on Kilimanjaro

Darol Kubacz is unstoppable. A U.S. Army veteran without the use of his legs, this leader and Freedom For Life Non-Profit Founder is determined to be the first disabled human to summit Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa's tallest peak, without being pushed, pulled or carried.