Superfest 2001 to Screen International Winners June 2 & 3 at La Pena Cultural Center, Berkeley
By Barbara Duncan (bjdnycla@aol.com)
The 11 winners of the XXI Superfest International Media Festival on Disabilities will be screened on the afternoons of June 2 and 3 at La Pena Cultural Center in Berkeley, California. Superfest, which is an annual event of the Corporation on Disabilities and Telecommunication (CDT), attracted entries this year from Europe, Canada and throughout the USA.
CDT Judge Pamela Walker commented, "I have been involved with Superfest for over 20 years and it is a thrill to see how it has evolved from a festival where most of the works were medical industrials or exploitational documentaries to works about disability that are real, that have spirit and humor, and that make you want to see them a second time."
Thanks to a grant from the ELA Foundation, the two-day festival will have sign language interpretation for all films. Tickets are $5-$10 sliding scale and will be sold at the door. A reception and awards ceremony will take place on the evening of June 3.
Variety of Winners
The winning films are quite varied, ranging from an infectious short documentary featuring children with physical disabilities talking about their lives, to a dramatization of young British adults with Down syndrome dealing with their sexuality, to an artistic exploration of how a blind person navigates Glasgow, to a biting theatrical satire of a world where survival depends upon points awarded by doctors in "quality of life" reviews.
Additional winners include a retrospective journey into the life of an elderly New England woman who spent most of her years in an institution, a tribute to a musician with ALS who remained in charge of his life up to its end, a Canadian drama of how a blind man might handle the dilemmas of a blind date, an animated television series about a fun-focused teenager who describes himself as "paralyzed from the armpits down," and filmed performances of disabled women artists and athletes.
Judging Criteria
The Superfest judging is a three-tiered process with works rated in genre or subject categories. Panelists represent the media field and the disability community. The following awards are given: a Best of Festival, a Spirit of Superfest (by a person with a disability), two awards of Excellence, three Achievement awards and five for Merit. The judges also, beginning this year, recognize a work that expands audience access through captioning and descriptive video.
The judges are looking for true-to-life works that do not "pity or pedestal" individuals with disabilities. Criteria considered are: content, presentation, cinematography, creativity, technical considerations, character representation, effectiveness in promoting "real people" concepts and potential use of the film by the mainstream. Over the years, the CDT team has adopted a philosophy of "Art takes risks," and developed criteria that reward originality, point of view and creativity. In this way, the better financed films do not automatically overwhelm the evaluation process.
CDT Membership
CDT Director Liane Yasumoto encourages those involved in the media and in the disability field and community to consider CDT membership. Membership categories are $15 for low-income, $30 for an individual and $50 for an organization. Members are entitled to a vote in board elections, discounts on selected activities and publications and a subscription to the informative quarterly newsletter. Send checks to CDT, P.O. Box 1107, Berkeley, CA 94701. Information is also available via email: superfest@aol.com
Superfest 2001 Awards
Best of Festival:
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Kids Just Want to Have Fun
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Short documentary featuring physically disabled kids animatedly talking about their lives and having fun on an adapted playground
Awards of Excellence:
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Parade
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Piercing theatrical satire of a world run according to a very extreme version of the medical model
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Pelswich
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Program from an animated television series about a "permanently seated" teenager, who is determined to enjoy his life
Spirit Award:
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Parade
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Film version of short play by Susan Nussbaum, exploring vital disability issues with wit and compassion
Achievement Awards:
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BodyTalk
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First-rate performance artist/poet exuberantly explores her creativity & sexuality
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Dissonance
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Sensuous Canadian dramatization of a blind man experimenting with a computerized dating service
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Peak Practice: Walls of Jericho
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A British primetime television series focuses on young adults with Down syndrome discovering their sexuality and developing a relationship, against Mom's better judgement
Merit Awards:
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Feeling Space
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The camera follows a blind man figuring out how to navigate Glasgow
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I Keep on Walking
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An elderly woman, institutionalized for most of her life, visits her former "homes"
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Love is a Hemorrhage
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Filmed performance of impassioned dance sequences
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Through Riley's Eyes
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Tribute to Canadian musician with progressive disability who arranges how his life will play out
Certificate of Appreciation for efforts to expand audience access through captioning and audio description:
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Enable: People with Disabilities & Computers
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Documentary of various Americans using high technology
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