Rare top billing awarded to people with disabilities
TORONTO — When the Oscars diversity debate erupted this year, filmmaker Jenni Gold noticed one minority group was conspicuously absent from the conversation.
“They would talk about women, they would talk about ethnicity, they would talk about sexual preference — but they wouldn’t talk about disability,” the writerdirector said. “It was like the forgotten group.”
Gold looks at the underrepresentation of people with disabilities and deaf people in media and onscreen in her star-packed documentary CinemAbility, which is screening at Toronto’s inaugural ReelAbilities Film Festival that runs today through May 19.
Billed as the first of its kind in Canada, the festival has films by, or about, the experiences of people with disabilities.
It also has free family programs and is “accessible in every way,” said artistic director Liviya Mendelsohn, noting all the venues are wheelchair accessible.
The screenings will also have open captioning and be sensory friendly with lower sound and some light and space for people who need it. Several films are accompanied by audio description for those who are blind or have poor vision.
Panel discussions will be supplemented by sign language and organizers are taking access requests individually to try to accommodate all.
ReelAbilities started at a Jewish community centre in New York in 2007 and has grown to 13 cities in the U.S.
Mendelsohn said the field of films available for such a festival is getting bigger. “The ReelAbilities national office in New York is now taking submissions and they’re getting lots and lots of submissions each year,” she said. “There’s really a bit of a moment happening around disability and film.”
But as Gold’s film points out, there’s still a long way to go. Featuring interviews with experts and stars including Jamie Foxx, Ben Affleck and Marlee Matlin, CinemAbility looks at how disability and people of other minority groups have been treated in the media and onscreen. It also examines the power the media have to influence society and society’s understanding of any particular group.
“The employment rate of people with disabilities is the worst of all. It’s incredibly low, and we’re talking about people that are capable of work,” Gold said.
“It’s more looking at what someone can do and not pre-judging them about what they can’t do because of what you think. When you add people of different types to your work environment, it leads to a more rounded experience, new ideas. It’s a better fabric.”
Gold has muscular dystrophy and uses a power wheelchair. She said she had to overcome prejudices and create opportunities for herself in Hollywood.
“As a female director, I also know that the numbers of female directors working are appallingly low as well. So when you add a female director who uses a wheelchair, you have to create your own avenues.”
People with disabilities offer a special “artistic depth” in the entertainment world, Gold said.
“I tell people that I think I’m a better director because I have a disability,” said the founder of Gold Pictures, who also does narrative feature films.
“Growing up with muscular dystrophy, I couldn’t always do something myself so I’d have to direct other people to do what I wanted. And what does a director do? They get actors to do what they want.”
Gold has an infectious sense of humour when talking about such issues and purposely injected that lighthearted approach into her film.
On the misconception that someone with her condition might get tired on a film set, she said: “I get tired less than everybody else because I’m sitting down all day.”