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By Mike Reynolds
Uppity Disability dot net
As a disabled activist, I have been granted a tremendous amount of opportunities that I would never have had I been, dare I say it, able-bodied?
I’ve run a website for over a decade, produced two films and written for a number of publications. I have screened my films at national conferences and had the opportunity to work with amazing, brilliant and committed activists on a wide range of disability, civil rights, and to a lesser extent queer politics and independent media.
But there seems to be a void – The need for a “disability cultural experience.” I don’t mean going to conferences, or reading all the major websites and blogs. I mean a revolution in the way we look at our identity. Other minority cultures have successfully made the leap from marginalization by the mainstream to solid minority identity. One only has to look at the proliferation of film festivals by other minorities to see troubling facts.
There are literally dozens of gay and lesbian film festivals, and as an out gay male, I would like to think that my work would be accepted in the genre, but, really, right now – it doesn’t translate –My first film was not at all geared to a broad audience. My current film is a bit more accessible. But how many disability film festivals are there?
In the US – there are currently 3. Superfest is run out of Berkeley CA, and gets the major hitters like PBS submitting films. That’s not exactly pleasing for a disabled filmmaker with a camera, tripod and video editing software. There is a second festival in New York, but the details escape me at the moment. The final film fest, where an excerpt of my film, Million Dollar Bigot will screen tonight is the Reel Life Film Festival held near Detroit, MI.
A production of Susan Fitzmaurice, it is one of the few outlets for disability specific films to be seen. While there are dozens of say, gay and lesbian film festivals, where directors can sort of garner a buzz before trying to submit to a major independent film fest, like Sundance. Without that cultural structure in place, and with prevailing attitudes in our culture that already marginalize disabled voices, The Reel Life Festival is not only a needed resource, it is literally a lifeline for indie crip filmmakers who do not want “permission” to voice their opinion on video. Reel Life and the other film festivals are providing an essential service – giving disability filmmakers an outlet where a under funded film probably done late at night on the same computer that is also responsible for reporting, writing or research. In other words – the filmmakers who look for tapes on clearance so they can film their masterpiece for the world to see.
Susan Fitzmaurice is a true pioneer and hopefully will be noted as such in the annuals of disability culture. Besides this groundbreaking festival, she has led the dissemation of information for victims of Hurricane Katrina on the Internet. She has recently received an Advocate of the Year award from the World Institute on disability, as well as running numerous other websites, and living a full life. It is folks like Susan Fitzmaurice that gives this crip indie film dork hope that disability perspectives will possibly be less than a marginalized voice in the media.
