International Disability Film Festival

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International Disability Film Festival
SUPERFEST Int'l. Disability Film Festival Gaia Arts Center -Berkeley June 4 & 5, 2010 (Fri. & Sat.)

*From Profound to Profane: Superfest Shines a Spotlight on 13 RemarkableFilms in*
*2-Day Festival Celebrating Disability Culture June 4 & 5 in Berkeley*

*When a boy's fluttering eyelashes are finally recognized as communication, 16 years of silent isolation end and a soulful poet's life takes flight in Like A Butterfly (Poland, Best of Festival), a lyrical, intimate portrait that's a testament to the profound resilience of the human spirit; the adrenalin rush as the athlete pushes the limits, the awesome beauty of the snowy landscapes, the thrill as the snowboarder soars higher, the tricks, defying gravity, and then, Wipe Out (Canada, Merit) -- three compelling stories about life after your head hits the icy hard-pack; unflinching and raw, at times unhinged, The Last American Freak Show (UK, Merit) turns a voyeuristiclens on a low-rent troupe of self-defined freaks and outsiders as they hitthe road in a revival of a marginalized "art form" that many believe shouldhave been "bagged and tagged" long ago.

* These are just three of thirteen remarkable award winning-films, a taste of what's in store at the 30th Superfest International Disability Film Festival, a community event celebrating disability culture June 4 & 5 in downtown Berkeley at the Gaia Art Center, 2120 Allston Way. The accessibleand affordable event includes Friday and Saturday afternoon screenings ofthe 13 award-winning films, a lively "Q & A" with attending filmmakers, ameet and greet the film-makers reception and an award ceremony with liveentertainment. The festival is presented by Culture!Disability!Talent!(CDT), a grass-roots non-profit dedicated to promoting quality, authenticfilms that represent the rich diversity of the world's disability community.

Top Honors The Best of Festival and Excellence Awards go to three films representing the power, passion, craft and art of the documentary. Taking us to cultures as disparate as Poland, China, and California, these superb films remind usthat there are no language barriers or national boundaries in our universal need to be heard, recognized, understood, accepted, and yes, loved and embraced as a valued member of the human family. Best of Festival Award Without gimmicks or artifice, Polish filmmaker Ewa Pieta delivers anintricate portrait, charged with brilliant moments of emotional intensity.

*Likea Butterfly* tells the story of Przemek, a 23 year-old poet who spent hisfirst 16 years of life trying frantically to communicate, get someone,anyone, to notice him. When an institution worker finally recognizes hispersistent tapping and blinking as dammed up intelligence, his desperate isolation comes to an end. With training on a communication system, Przemekdives passionately into his longed for world of words, eventually earning national recognition for his poetry.

*Excellence & Spirit Awards* Rhianon Guiterrez's *When I'm Not Alone *is as direct and down to earth asSam Durbin, the extraordinary ordinary man at its center. Sam's life, likethis story, is all about possibilities. He heads the consumer advisory committee for California's Department of Developmental Services and is a published author, achievements he never imagined while institutionalized orhomeless. This powerful gem, which chronicles Sam's efforts to reclaim his life with the help of Integrity House, a clubhouse to help people with disabilities become self-advocates, also earned the Spirit Award, given to an outstanding work by a filmmaker with a disability.

In China, families with autistic children face hostility, discrimination,and financial ruin. Services don't exist. One small school, Stars and Rain,on the outskirts of Beijing, offers a ray of hope. Parents travel thousandsof miles with their 5 year-olds to join this intensive 11-week residential course in skills and behavior, aimed at acceptance of the child by public schools. British director, Rob Aspey, skillfully draws us into how hard it is for the *Children of the Stars* to communicate their needs or showaffection. We experience frustration, glimmers of hope, the joy of a fatherhearing "I love you" for the first time from his son, and our hearts travelwith them as they leave and head home to an uncertain future.

*The P. K. Walker Award* Named for experimental artist, Pamela Walker, a pioneer in the Berkeleydisability arts scene, this award is given to a film that pushes artisticboundaries, that surprises us, that demonstrates innovation in expressing disability experience. With

*White Sound*, Australian filmmaker SarahTracton, gives us a totally fresh take on what it means to hear, to listen,when she uses her own hearing loss as catalyst to visually explore thetexture of sound.

*Awards for Achievement and Merit* Two of the three Achievement Award winners provide windows into theexperiences of people restarting their lives somewhere new.

*Miya of theQuiet Strength *was life long activist Miya Rodolfo-Sioson, who first drew national attention as the sole survivor of a campus mass shooting before moving from Iowa to Berkeley to continue her fight for human and civilrights out of the spotlight glare. Filmmaker Daniel Julien's loving tribute captures the essence of this beloved and respected community worker and the family who supported her efforts.

In *Beyond Borders*, children and adultsfrom Iraq, Uzbekistan and Morocco immigrate to Belgium seeking much neededservices or to escape oppression and war in their homelands. Director BrechtVanmeirhaeghe introduces us to a boy with Down syndrome and his family, a mother who is developing multiple sclerosis and a young blind man determined to run a marathon. The third Achievement winner and two of the five Merit Award winners arefilms that focus on the power of art to represent, challenge, and transform ideas about disability, films that call into question the nature of artisticexpression.

Achievement winner, *The Portrait of a Disabled Man*, is adocumentary about the discovery of an unusual 400 year-old Austrianpainting. The man's body is laid out, as if for a medical examination, buthis head is turned to eye the viewer and challenge our gaze. FilmmakersVolker Schoenwiese and Bernd Thomas explore views by disability scholars,activists, and artists on the history and significance of the painting. Two Merit Award winners also delve into the significance of the gaze thatpeople with visible disabilities are subjected to in public, and howdisabled artists can choose to refashion it into performance.

Richard Butchkins takes us on a long and winding road trip with *The Last AmericanFreak Show*, a rough, sometimes messy look at a troupe of unapologetic"freaks" who flaunt their differences and charge you to gaze.

DavidLevitt-Waxman takes us inside *The Art of Movement* with the Bay Area's world renowned AXIS Dance Company. These dancers, with and without disabilities, know full well that the audience is at first absorbed by what they perceive as different and resist seeing their performance as art, so they raise the artistic bar and push the creative envelope until they astonish audiences with their innovative moves.

Challenging Assumptions
The three remaining Merit winners and the special award for outstandinge merging artist go to filmmakers for films that demonstrate a strongcreative vision and powerful point of view. They are: **My Friend Claude,* driven by a bluesy sound track that serves asnarrative, is Canadian Yves Langlois's unsentimental tribute to his closefriend that captures his *joie de vivre *as he fulfils his bucket list; * *Wipe Out* is Lionel Goddard's compelling, close-up of three youngCanadians who were head injured through extreme snowboarding and are nowinvolved in public education about safety measures; **Far from Home* is Elissa Moon's incisive look at life in Laguna Honda, andhow a lawsuit against the country's largest nursing home enabled somedisabled residents to escape institutionalization into independent living inthe community; and *Winner of Emerging Artist award Laurence Parent for *Je me Souviens:Excluded from the Montreal Subway Since 1966*, her passionate and poeticexpose of a long, so far futile battle for accessibility of the Montrealsubway. *Public Screening Schedule and Reception/Awards Event* Public screenings of the award-winning films will take place on Friday, June4, 11 a.m.-5 p.m., and Saturday, June 5, 12-5 p.m., at the Gaia Arts Center,2120 Allston (one block from the downtown Berkeley BART station) inBerkeley, California. Tickets are $5-$20/day sliding scale and will be soldonly at the door. Please refrain from wearing perfume and other scentedproducts. A "Meet the Makers" reception will take place on Saturday, June 5,6-7 p.m., followed by an awards ceremony with live entertainment from 7-9p.m. The reception and awards ceremony are free and open to the public. Access Accommodations Available The venue is wheelchair accessible. Braille and large print screeningschedules are available. All films will be audio described and most arecaptioned; check screening schedule. Film introductions, as well as thereception and awards event will be ASL interpreted. For additional access information, or to get a copy of the *SUPERFEST2010 *screeningschedule, visit: *http://www.culturedisabilitytalent.org/superfest/index.html*, e-mail:info@culturedisabilitytalent.org, or call the *CDT *voice mailbox at510-845-5576. SponsorsSuperfest 2010 is made possible in part by the generosity of: AAA NorthernCalifornia, Nevada & Utah, the California Arts Council, Gabriel Ledger,M.D., the National Arts and Disability Center at UCLA, and the True NorthFoundation. CDT is also currently funded by the City of Berkeley Civic ArtsProgram. Press Contact To schedule interviews or obtain DVD screeners and photos, please call Liane Yasumoto at 510-845-5576 or e-mail: info@culturedisabilitytalent.org.