Film festival celebrates disability culture
FFWD - October 18, 2001

PICTURE THIS FILM FESTIVAL
October 19 to 21
Fort Calgary

TOM BABIN

Does a blonde quadriplegic with bloodshot eyes searching for booze and sex sound funny? How about a group of disabled cartoon characters calling themselves the Magnificent Severed? A man made up of only a head and a skateboard?

If you think that's more distasteful than funny, there is a whole culture of Farrelly brothers fans who would disagree with you - not to mention the jury of this weekend's Picture This Film Festival, Canada's first ever disability culture film fest.

Those characters are part of John Callaghan's Quads, a television show that has already been awarded a prize for best overall production at the festival (and, incidentally, created by a man in a wheelchair). The show is funny in a semen-as-hair-gel sort of way, but according to festival director Vern Reynolds-Braun, it's also one of those rare North American productions where disabled characters are important, and not exclusively because of their disability.

"In North America (films about disabled people) are generally about something sad or people overcoming these huge obstacles," Reynolds-Braun says.

"Normal people, who happen to have a disability, just trying to get by, they just don't seem to appear."

Confronting that notion was part of the impetus behind the festival.

The idea began within the walls of the Calgary SCOPE Society, a local group that works with disabled people and their families. Reynolds-Braun says the idea of a film festival was floated as a way of educating people about disabilities and simply giving disabled people and filmmakers a higher profile in society.

This is one of a handful of such festivals in the world, and the first in Canada. After a year of work and a $23,000 grant from the Calgary Foundation, it is ready to roll.

Reynolds-Braun says the response from video and filmmakers to the call for submissions ':was almost overwhelming. Though most of the submissions have disability culture as part of the content, some were created ;; by disabled directors or producers.

"There were 110 entries from 10 around the world, which totally blew our minds because we were expecting about 30," Reynolds-Braun says.

"The reason we got so many entries is, I think, because there's a lot of pent?up demand for this."

Those entries came from places like the England, Ireland and New Zealand - places where disability in the media isn't relegated to television movies of the week.

"The UK, in my opinion, is very progressive in TV production," say Reynolds?Baum. "They're just so totally out there ...."

Organizers of the festival simply hope to give Canadians a different perspective and make disability culture more accessible - something the film festival may inadvertently be combating itself with its unique format.

In addition to screening the best of the festival at the Fort Calgary theatre, every entry will be available for viewing at smaller video stations. That means anyone can watch any entry they want at any time.

"Calgary is really becoming known as a festival city and I think it's great to see people from Calgary involved in this," Reynolds-Braun says.

top