More than 500 adults and children turn out for First Moscow International Disability Film Festival
By Barbara Duncan (bjdnycla@aol.com)
Around 350 adults and 200 children and adolescents from Russia participated in Mosfest, the country's first international disability film festival, September 26-29. In addition 20 disability media specialists from Europe, North America and Africa participated in associated workshops.
The event was well covered by both the print and broadcast media. A pre-Festival press conference drew 30 members of the working press, many of whom then attended screenings. The Festival was organized by the Russian disability rights group, Perspektiva, with the assistance of Rehabilitation International and the World Institute on Disability, supported by the International Disability Exchanges and Studies (IDEAS) project, funded by the U.S. National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research.
A Russian jury of mainstream film and television producers and representatives of the Moscow city government and disability nongovernmental organizations selected 11 winning films from the more than 150 screened from 20 countries. The jury had made a first cut to 65 films during August and September and those films were shown to participants over a demanding 4 day schedule, beginning at 10 a.m. and finishing around 10 p.m.
A mini-festival for children
The children and youths, disabled and non-disabled, were bused in from local primary and secondary schools for their own two-day mini-festival of films for and/or about children. The group included pupils from one of Moscow's first mainstreamed schools. About 15 films were screened for them, ranging from short selections from television programs up to 30 or 50 minute documentaries for the older students. All their films either included disabled children together with other children or focused on children with disabilities. They screened films from Russia, the Netherlands, the U.K., the U.S. and UNICEF and were thrilled to be able to vote on the winners. The younger children picked as their favorite a "Sesame Street" collection of short pieces including disabled kids and the usual Muppets, produced by Children's Television Workshop. The high school students voted on "The Ride," a U.S. film by John Flanders. The evocative dramatization centers on the intense communication developed between a melancholy folksinger driving across the desert and the deaf hitchhiker he picks up.
A dozen winners
The jury worked hard up until the last minute before the Awards Ceremony on the evening of September 29, debating the merits of the most memorable entries. They selected 11 films from Canada, France, Russia, Brazil, Belgium, the UK and the USA as outstanding:
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"Talk," directed by Mathew Parkhill and produced by Annie Easthope of the UK. This short film tells of a non-disabled man who wakes up one morning to find he is living in a disabled world. Everywhere he goes he faces the physical obstacles, challenges, frustrations and patronizing attitudes ordinarily experienced by disabled people in today's world.
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"Just a Wedding," produced by Beverly Shaeffer of the Canadian National Film Board. Shaeffer won an Academy Award for an earlier film about Nadia, a little girl with spina bifida about to start a new school, and this film, co-directed by Nadia DeFranco, chronicles the period leading up to her wedding.
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"Vital Signs: Crip Culture Talks Back," co-directed by David Mitchell and Sharon Snyder of the University of Illinois at Chicago, a documentary of performances and commentaries by leading U.S. creators of disability culture.
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"Forbidden Motherhood," by French filmmaker Diane Maroger, a documentary recording the gradual empowerment of a married woman who discovers her parents had arranged for her to be sterilized without her consent.
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"Sorry for Living," a Russian documentary by Aleksei Pogrebnoi, telling the story of Vera Kazakova, whose legs and hips were broken at birth while being pulled from the womb. As a result, her legs never grew to their full length. Kazakova is a strong character and reflects honestly on both her disappointments and victories.
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"The Window of Serge Basalaev," produced by Yuri Erofeev. This melodramatic Russian film is a portrait of a young boy with cerebral palsy who demonstrates extraordinary artistic talent but, apparently, can only communicate with the world through his mother.
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"Wild on Wheels," an ebullient South African documentary produced by Alette Schoon. The music, the strong personalities and the deft direction converge, resulting in a powerful film.
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"After All, They Are Our Kids," Marina Bartinova and Vasily Katilevsky, a well made Russian documentary about three families who chose to keep their children with Down syndrome, against the usual medical advice.
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"Hands," an art film by Brazilian producer Gustavo Bicalho. This short film, mostly without dialogue, communicates strongly about the quality of life for disabled artists and community leaders in Rio de Janeiro.
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"Desirs d'Amour," produced by Helene de Crecy and Philippe Pataud of France. This provocative film was considered the best of several dealing with the exploration of sexuality and relationships and emotions.
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"To Speak," by Erik Lamens of Belgium, impressed the judges as an excellent portrayal of the disability experience. This autobiographical film is a moving message about the underestimated frustrations of young man with a stutter.
Finally, an award was presented to the film voted best by the audience: "Alan's Rule," a Russian drama by Peter Zekavica. The main character of this film is an American researcher who abandons his cold, harsh approach to life after meeting and learning to understand the experiences of a Russian troupe of deaf performers.
The awards ceremony and reception was packed, attracting about 350 people from the Russian disability and film communities. In closing the Festival, the leaders of Perspektiva agreed it had been a major success and announced that they intend to make it an annual event.
In the next issue of Disability World, we will report on the associated workshops on using mass media to advance the objectives of disability advocacy and public education.
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