One man’s climb against the odds is a highlight of this year’s ReelAbilities festival.
In making a documentary of his climb to Machu Picchu, the Inca ruins set high in the Andes Mountains of Peru, Houstonian Michael McCulloch wanted to accomplish two things.
“One, I hoped this would empower people to get out of their comfort zone and take on new challenges and see that all things are possible,” he says. “And two, it’s the importance of teamwork. It’s OK to ask for and receive help to accomplish goals. It doesn’t mean a loss of independence.”
Those universal themes of perseverance would make solid fodder for any film. But the fact that McCulloch, 66, is blind — and made the fourday hike in 2019 with a herniated disc and torn meniscus to boot — makes “One Step at a Time” a compelling part of the 2021 ReelAbilities Houston Film & Arts Festival.
Running Feb. 16-24, the event celebrates the lives, stories and talents of people with disabilities. Though the pandemic is pushing the ninth annual festival online, its components remain largely unchanged. It will consist of a mix of short narratives and documentaries followed by Q&A sessions; a speaker series; showcase and sale of works by artists with disabilities; and concert by musicians with disabilities. In addition, ReelEducation brings the message of inclusion to schoolchildren, and ReelWorkplace provides seminars to local companies to benefit hiring managers, employees and clients.
Film, music and art events are free; the Feb. 16 speaker series, called UP Abilities, costs $10, and ReelWorkplace costs $20. Viewers can register for any of the events at reelabilitieshouston.org.
Because anyone with an internet connection can “attend,” the online format actually increases accessibility, one of the primary goals of ReelAbilities Houston, according to Eve Lapin and Marcy Margolis, who are co-chairing the festival with chair Benjy Hershorn. Those registering can choose for films to include closed captions for the deaf or audio descriptions for
the visually impaired.
“There’s been a lot of talk this (past) year about diversity and inclusion of people with disabilities, visible and invisible, physical and intellectual,” Lapin says.
Redesigned for the Zoom era
Organizers kept in mind that people are spending more time sitting in front of their computers these days, Margolis adds.
With a couple of exceptions, “we wanted to make sure the timing of each event isn’t longer than an hour. We wanted to make it concise and informative,” she said. “… People are Zoomed out a little bit.”
To that end, UP Abilities will feature two rather than the usual three speakers. The ReelMusic concert that wraps up the festival Feb. 24 is recorded rather than live, which provides an opportunity to intersperse performances throughout the festival. “The healing power of music we feel like we need more this year than any other,” Margolis says.
Likewise, viewers are encouraged to watch the films ahead of time to maximize the educational and entertainment value of the discussions that follow.
McCulloch will speak virtually when “One Step at a Time” premieres Feb. 20.
The once “daredevil kid” — who jumped off the roof of his house, raced his bike in the concrete drains along Houston’s bayous and hung out in tree limbs during rainstorms as if on the ship in “MobyDick” — has always kept his sense of adventure. He was 8 when President John F. Kennedy spoke at Rice University about the U.S. aspiration to put a man on the moon.
But when glaucoma began claiming his sight in his 20s, he knew life as an astronaut wasn’t meant to be. So he became an engineer and helped astronauts, first on the shuttle program and then to assemble and operate the International Space Station. McCulloch retired from NASA in 2017.
Going to Machu Picchu
When a friend suggested hiking to Machu Picchu, “I put it on a side burner, but I realized this might be motivational to others,” he said.
He rounded up Bella.Media videographer Robert Harrington and guides from Achilles International, an organization that helps people with disabilities participate in mainstream sports and exercise, to trek the Inca Trail with him. Training at the gym and hikes in Colorado got McCulloch fitter to handle the elevation that reaches 14,000 feet near the ancient Peruvian ruins, but he wasn’t prepared for hiking with torn knee cartilage. With beautiful cinematography, the 40-minute “One Step at a Time” captures scenic views as well as the group’s extraordinary challenges, including a medical emergency, along a sandy, uneven trail.
McCulloch said he was handson in deciding what to include in the film, even less-than-flattering parts that put his vulnerability on display. There are also humorous moments that show his adventurous side. Before McCulloch and crew set out from Cusco, Peru, he decides to try a local delicacy: whole guinea pig on a stick. The rest watch, queasy.
“I swear, if he could’ve seen it, he wouldn’t have eaten it,” Harrington says on film.
Joking aside, if McCulloch’s eyes couldn’t take in Machu Picchu’s huge stone walls and terraces, why do it? Perhaps he could experience the “City Above the Clouds” in ways sighted people don’t.
“Hearing the wind blow through the trees and rocks, the smell of the air is totally different,” he recalled. “… Any time we’d go through clouds, I could feel the change in density.”
These days, McCulloch continues to run iBUG (iBlind Users Group) Today, a nonprofit he founded that trains the visually impaired to use technology for independence, productivity, communication and social integration.
And with a new knee following a replacement, he is planning his next adventure: a rim-to-rim hike of the Grand Canyon in 2022.