ReelAbilities, the film festival that celebrates inclusion, disability and accessibility, returns to New York City this month, running from April 27 through May 3. Now in its 15th year, ReelAbilities offers both virtual and in-person screenings, discussions and presentations.
Courtesy, Reel Abilities Film Festival
When we caught up with event co-founder and director Isaac Zablocki to ask about highlights among this year’s offerings, he protested—“Choose from among my children?”—before pointing us to the festival’s opening night red-carpet premiere, Unidentified Objects, from director Juan Felipe Zuleta. The feature pairs a loner with an ebullient friend on a road trip to Canada that becomes an amusing and moving journey of self-discovery.
Courtesy Reel Abilities Film Festival
We were also drawn to several other films, including the 2021 Ukrainian-Swiss documentary Pushing Boundaries. This timely film chronicles Ukraine’s paralympic team following Russia’s 2014 invasion of Crimea, which cost the team its training base. The athletes were suddenly forced to prepare in unfamiliar and challenging physical conditions amid a politically charged atmosphere.
Courtesy, Reel Abilities Film Festival
A lighter standout is the Australian feature Shadow. This 2021 movie, with a running time of just under an hour, finds a trio of adults with intellectual disabilities conducting a town hall to warn the world about the dangers of artificial intelligence. This mix of personalities, disabilities and a voluble public yields deliciously provocative fodder for thought.
Courtesy, Reel Abilities Film Festival
Many of the films deal with autism and other intellectual disabilities, and some, like 2022’s Being Michelle, highlight individuals with multiple disabilities. This tough, award-winning documentary from the US, which will have its New York premiere at the festival, tells the story of a deaf autistic woman who survived incarceration, despite the system’s refusal to accommodate her needs. Her work with a blind life coach working in the prison helps her change her trajectory.
Then there is the short film program, which Zablocki explains has been expanded for this year’s festival. “The storytelling and quality of these films is extraordinary,” he says. “There’s nothing like them.” The array of live-action and animated jewels comes from filmmakers around the world, including Europe, the Middle East, the UK, Australia and North America. Shorts like the 4-minute British documentary Coming Out Autistic are edgy and intense, while others, like the 5-minute US film Mac and Cheese, make liberal use of humor. The many films have been curated into showings categorized with titles like “Family Friendly” and “Mental Health,” which makes it easier to choose what you might want to attend. (Foreign language films are presented in their original language with audio description.)
Along with these great narrative and documentary features and edgy, exciting shorts (not to mention topical panels and one comedy night), ReelAbilities is remarkable because each of its films will be fully accessible to its audience. At the Upper West Side’s JCC Manhattan, the one venue in the City that will show the entire 2023 roster, all films will have audio description for the blind and people with low vision and open captioning and American Sign Language for people who are deaf or hard of hearing. In addition, every screening at the JCC will conclude with a live Q&A, featuring those involved in the works being shown.
While some films will also be screened at other sites across the five boroughs—check the festival website for specifics—only the JCC promises audio description for every film. With this technology, onscreen action is described in between dialogue sequences. Blind moviegoers will be provided with individual handheld transmitters with earbuds that are tuned directly to the pertinent frequency for each particular film so they can follow the plot and fully enjoy the film. The JCC also has induction hearing loops to boost assistive hearing devices. However, not all of the venues will be able to offer audio description transmitters, so call ahead to the venue you are headed to.
For more information, including streaming links, visit reelabilities.org or call 646-505-5708 or TTY 877-505-6708.
