Banner. 6th Annual ReelAbilities Film Festival Los Angeles. May 4th and 5th, 2024. California Plaza.
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Virtual Library

Film Schedule – Saturday, May 4, 2024

Day 1 Events

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11:00 AM – 2:00 PM

Short Films

Imagined Touch

Jodee Mundy Collaborations presents Imagined Touch. When touch becomes your vision of the world. ReelAbilities Film Festival Los Angeles 2024 Official Selection Laurel. Two women holding each other's hands. One has blonde straight hair and is wearing an orange top. The other has dirty blonde curly hair wearing a black top.

Directed by Sofya Gollan & Jodee Mundy Oam

Australia | Runtime 33 minutes | 2021 | English | Documentary, Theater

When two DeafBlind women ask a theater director to help them make a show about being deaf and blind, never in their wildest dreams did they imagine it would become an award-winning show.

 

 

Act of God

Text reads Act of God directed by Spencer Cook and Parker Smith. Official Selection ReelAbilities Film Festival Los Angeles 2024 Official Selection Laurel. A group of people on their bikes in the dark with their bike lights turned on. The front man is on a power wheel chair.

Directed by Spencer Cook & Parker Smith

United States | Runtime 22 minutes | 2022 | English | Comedy

Stuart’s life is a mess. His caregivers are abandoning him and for good reason: he’s a jerk, a fact that becomes quickly apparent to the new guy tasked with getting him out of bed. Stuart’s commute to work is interrupted by the discovery of a $100 bill lying on the sidewalk, leading him on a chase that forces him to reconsider his toxic ideal of self sufficiency.

Coming Out Autistic

Text reads Coming Out Autistic. Created by Steven Fraser. Featuring interviews with LGBTQIA+ people and how they tell others that they are autistic. ReelAbilities Film Festival Los Angeles 2024 Official Selection Laurel. Illustratution of a person breaking loose from the mask they were hiding in which made them miserable.

Directed by Steven Fraser

United Kingdom | Runtime 4 minutes | 2022 | English | Animated, Documentary

Queer coming out stories are well documented, while telling friends, family, co-workers, and strangers that you are autistic is shown less often. But what is the experience of telling the world that you are autistic when you also identify as LGBTQ+?

 

Culicidae

Left Field Productions presents Culicidae. A short nightmare by Greg Moran. ReelAbilities Film Festival Los Angeles 2024 Official Selection Laurel. A wrinkled face zoomed in to only show the eyes.

Directed by Greg Moran

Australia | Runtime 7 minutes | 2021 | English | Comedy

A late night intrusion leads to a life and death struggle.

 

 

 

Danceable

ReelAbilities Film Festival Los Angeles 2024 Official Selection Laurel. Text reads Danceable. The University of Southern California presents "Danceable". Directed by Kelsey McGee. Three dancers with disabilities. One is in a wheelchair with one hand on their head. One is sitting in a split and the other is standing up with one of their arms up in the air.

Directed by Kelsey McGee

United States | Runtime 23 minutes | 2022 | American Sign Language & English | Documentary

Three dancers with disabilities find freedom through movement.

 

 

 

Flirting with Possibilities

Garrett Zuercher, Jason Tam, Tom Berklund, Jared Johnston, and Andrew Keenan-Bolger. A film by Garrett Zuercher, Flirting (With Possibilities) ReelAbilities Film Festival Los Angeles 2024 Official Selection Laurel. Illustration of two men walking in a building with brick walls and high caged windows showing a chandelier inside.

Directed by Garrett Zuercher

United States | Runtime 18 minutes | 2021 | English | Romance, Comedy

Through trial and error, Harley, a deaf man, is determined to figure out the most effective way to flirt with the cute hearing guy he sees in the coffee shop. A glimpse of how it feels to communicate primarily via American Sign Language in a predominantly hearing, speaking, and English-using world.

2:00 PM – 4:00 PM

Being Michelle

Being Michelle. Voices unseen. Justice silenced. Love abounds. ReelAbilities Film Festival Los Angeles 2024 Official Selection Laurel in center of image. A person with glasses, short brown hair, and a purple top holding a self portrait to their face with a police car in the back of the person.Directed by Atin Mehra

United States | Runtime 72 minutes | 2022 | American Sign Language & English | Documentary

The astonishing story of a woman who survived incarceration in a system that refused to accommodate her needs as a deaf person with autism. Michelle’s trajectory changed when she met Kim Law, a blind life coach who teaches in the prison. A story of redemption, this award-winning film is about the bonds between two women committed to thriving in a broken system and forging a path to healing.

Q & A

Panel Discussion

Removing Barriers, Tropes, and Stigmas:
Discussing the Steps to Build an Inclusive Future in Film

4:00 PM – 8:30 PM

Unidentified Objects

Sarah Hay, Matthew August Jeffers. Unidentified Objects. Directed by Juan Felipe Zuleta. Where will you find yourself? ReelAbilities Film Festival Los Angeles 2024 Official Selection Laurel. A man sitting on top of a red car parked in front of a building at night.

Directed by Juan Felipe Zuleta

United States | Runtime 84 minutes | 2022 | English | Comedy, Science Fiction
Peter is an intellectual outsider with an edge. He lives as a loner, until an unexpected visit from his upbeat—and possibly unhinged—neighbor Winona forces him out of his shell and on an impromptu road trip to rural Canada. As they journey into the wilderness, the odyssey turns into a search for their place in the universe.

 

Is There Anybody Out There?

ReelAbilities Film Festival Los Angeles 2024 Official Selection Laurel under text that reads ‘Is There Anybody Out There?’ and a full body photo of Director Ella Glendining.
Directed by Ella Glendining

United Kingdom | Runtime 87 minutes | 2023 | English | Documentary

While navigating daily discrimination, a filmmaker who loves her unusual body searches the world for another person like her and explores what it takes to love oneself fiercely despite society’s misconceptions.

 

 

Film Schedule – Sunday, May 5, 2024

Day 2 Events

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11:00 AM – 2:30 PM

Get ready for a day of fun, education, and excitement with ReelAbilities Los Angeles and proud sponsors! Join us for outdoor movies, music, and dancing, arts and crafts, and more. This event is free and all ages are welcome.

Logo of the ReelAbilities Film Festival Los Angeles. Family Fun Day. Sunday May 5, 2024 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Outdoor Movies. Music and dancing. Arts and crafts and more! California Plaza 350 S Grand Ave, Los Angeles, CA. Free Admission. All ages welcome. Graphic includes images of attendees dancing with ribbons, cover art for the movie Wish, and a screengrab from the short film Loop.

Loop

Two kids in a canoe, gliding on calm water surrounded by lush greenery. Movie title “Loop” is overlaid.

Pixar SparkShorts | Runtime 12 minutes | 2019 | Family, Animation | PG

In “Loop,” two kids at canoe camp find themselves adrift on a lake, unable to move forward until they find a new way to connect and see the world through each other’s eyes. This film breaks new ground by featuring Pixar’s first non-verbal autistic character.

 

Wish

Movie poster for Disney’s animated film Wish.

Disney | Runtime 86 minutes | 2023 | Family, Fantasy, Animation | PG

“Wish” is an animated film welcoming audiences to the kingdom of Rosas, where Asha, a sharp-witted idealist, makes a wish so powerful that it is answered by a cosmic force. Together, Asha and Star confront a formidable foe—the ruler of Rosas, King Magnifico—to save her community and prove that when the will of one courageous human connects with the magic of the stars, wondrous things can happen.

 

2:30 PM – 4:30 PM

Easterseals Disability Film Challenge 2024 Announcement of Finalists

Announcement of Finalists. May 5, 2024. Easterseals Disability Film Challenge. ReelAbilities Film Festival Los Angeles. Buddy Comedy. Four photos depicting friends hanging out are placed toward the bottom of the image with a film strip photo frame overlaid.

 

My Disability Roadmap

"My Disability Roadmap". Co-directed by Samueal Habib and Dan Habib. ReelAbilities Film Festival Los Angeles 2024 Official Selection Laurel. A girl in a long pink dress with a boy in a pink suit who is sitting in a power wheel chair. Behind them is a crowd surrounded by red velvet ropes.

Directed by Samuel Habib & Dan Habib

United States | Runtime 22 minutes | 2022 | English | Documentary

Samuel Habib, 21, wants to date, leave home, go to college. But he drives a 350-pound wheelchair, uses a communication device, and could have a seizure at any moment. Determined to find his path forward, he seeks out guidance from America’s most rebellious disability activists. Will they empower him to launch the bold adult life he craves?

 

Forget Me Not

Forget Me Not. ReelAbilities Film Festival Los Angeles 2024 Official Selection Laurel. A little boy is being helped in writing the ABCs.

Directed by Olivier Bernier

United States | Runtime 86 minutes | 2021 | English | Documentary

As 3-year-old Emilio prepares to start school, his family finds itself embroiled in a challenge all too common for children with disabilities – to secure the right to an inclusive education. Cornered in one of the most segregated education systems, New York City public schools, filmmaker Olivier and his wife Hilda turn the camera on themselves and their child with Down syndrome, as they navigate a byzantine system originally designed to silo children with disabilities.

Q & A

Shadow

Shadow. There Is Nowhere Darker Than the Future. ReelAbilities Film Festival Los Angeles 2024 Official Selection Laurel. Silhouettes of three people facing a black backdrop.

Directed by Bruce Gladwin

Australia | Runtime 57 minutes | 2021 | English | Drama

Simon, Scott, and Sarah—a trio of activists with intellectual disabilities—hold a town hall meeting, desperate to save the world from the future impacts of Artificial Intelligence. What begins as a polite discussion quickly descends into bickering and chaos, and as the meeting unravels, they discover the greatest threat to their future is already in the room.

 

Shorts filmmakers pose for photo with Department on Disability Executive Director Stephen David Simon
DOD and CALIF group photo
Members from Straight Up Abilities and Danny Gomez. Danny is stagged in the middle with his wheelchair,the dancers are gathered around him posing in various dance moves and smiling, facing the camera.
Leroy Moore, Tatyana Mc Fadden, and Ashley Dos Santos posing in front of the step and repeat. The three of them are smiling, facing the camera.
Cast of Love on the Spectrum
Two members of Straight Up Abilities talking to each other.
Two festival attendees one of them is leaning down, and the second person is sitting in a wheelchair. Both are smiling and looking at the camera.
Two festival attendees bundled up under a blanket. Both of them smiling and looking at the camera.
Photo of Straight Up Abilities dancers engaging with audience members for Funday Sunday dance party event.
A28 Paralympics panel discussion. All of the participating panelists are in full frame. Joining the panelist on stage are the ASL translators.
A young festival attendee is captured waving colorful scarves. The young girl is smiling, facing the camera.
Photo of Danny J. Gomez on the main stage in his wheelchair, holding a mic in mid-sentence.
Two groups of festival attendees. The group in the foreground is a woman and a young man in a wheelchair with a service dog on a leash laying down next to them. The second group is a man and a woman engaged in conversation.
Festival attendees during a panel discussion. Attendee David Radcliff is sitting in a wheelchair, holding a mic and asking a question.
Photo of panelist Tatyana McFadden looking at Greg Nugent as he is holding the mic and facing the audience.
LA28 Paralympics panel discussion. Panelist Leroy Moore is the focus of the photo. He is holding the mic and addressing the audience seated in his own wheelchair.
Photo of Danny Gomez and Tatyana McFadden on the main stage. Danny is holding the mic addressing Tatyana.
Photo of Candace Cable sitting in her own wheelchair wearing a facemask facing the camera.
Photo of Straight Up Abilities female dance instructor on the main stage addressing the audience. Audience members participating in the dance party. There is a bubble-making machine in the corner of the stage. Audience members are happy and having fun.
Photo of Straight Up Abilities dancers. The focus is on one particular male dancer who is captured dancing, clapping his hands up in the air, and smiling with his eyes closed.
A large group of audience members of various ages. Some are seated in blankets, and others are playing outside.
Photo of a young festival attendee waving at the camera.She is joined by a female adult both smiling and facing the camera.
An audience member holding the mic addressing the panelist. An ASL translator sitting next to her on her right side signing with one of the panelists.
Participating panelists during the discussion of the Easterseals challenge. Discussion is being led by Nic Novice, to his right is an ASL interpreter.
Participating panelists during the discussion of Easterseals shorts participants.
Panelist Dani Bowman holding the mic while her fellow panelist listens with a smile on their face. Dani is holding an umbrella and engaged in conversation.
Festival attendee posing in front of the step and repeat. They are smiling and facing the camera.
Festival attendees posing in front of the step and repeat. They are all smiling and facing the camera .
Sign Language Interpreters Andrew and Nicole posing in front of the step and repeat. They are smiling and facing the camera.
A group of festival attendees posing in front of the step and repeat. They are all smiling and facing the camera wearing VIP badges.
Close-up photo of large print format program guides for the film festival. There are three programs laid out on the table under a blue tablecloth.
Heart water bottles stacked on a table in the shape of a heart. Step and repeat are in the background with the department of disability logo and ReelAbilities film festival logo among other festival sponsors and supporters.
Panel during the ReelAbilities Film Festival. Panelists accompanied by a moderator and ASL support.
A large group of audience members of various ages. Some are seated in blankets, and others are playing outside.
Writer-director Ashley Eakin speaks into a microphone.
A panelist from the discussion: Are we there yet?: Authentic representation in film is the main focus of the photo. Kurt Yaeger has a visual disability, wearing a prosthetic leg. He is leaning forward with a mic engaged in discussion.
Festival attendees are sitting outdoors looking at a printed program guide. Candice Cable, Paralympian medalist is also captured in the photo looking on towards the two attendees.
Panel discussion: Are we there yet?: Authentic representation in film. Kurt Yaeger, Nasreen Alkateeb, and Ryan Damodaran are set up on the main stage engaged in conversation with Nasreen leading the discussion.
Panel discussion hosted by Nic Novice, Easterseals. Participating panelists are seated on stage. MC Danny Gomez is pointing to the audience, behind the panelits on the outdoor screen, close captioning on top reads the following; "All right. I like rolling deep. On the count of three say ReelAbilities!
MC Nikki Bailey is on stage, smiling looking toward the camera with the mic in her hand. To her right is an ASL interpreter.
Festival volunteers walking towards the camera, smiling holding drinks and food in their hands.
Chrystee Pharris is talking holding the microphone. She sits in between two other panelists and a Sign Language Interpreter translates behind her.
Q&A of ReelAbilities International Shorts Panel. Participating panelists are seated on stage, including the MC Nikki Bailey, and ASL interpreters on both sides of the stage.
ReelAbilities Q&A of ReelAbilities International Shorts Panel. Order of appearance left to right, Adam Deyoe, Nikki Bailey ,and an ASL interpreter on stage. Adam is speaking while holding up Davey(felp character figure) from his stop-motion animation film while Nikki sits to his right listening to his story.
ReelAbilities Q&A of ReelAbilities International Shorts Panel.
ReelAbilities Q&A of ReelAbilities International Shorts Panel. Order of appearance left to right, Michael Parks Randa, Jose Navas is talking holding the microphone ,and Ryan Mack is to his right.
ReelAbilities Q&A of ReelAbilities International Shorts Panel. Order of appearance left to right, Jose Navas, and Ryan Mack is talking holding the microphone ,and Eyal Resh is to his right.
Nikki Bailey, MC for Saturday's portion of the film festival is on stage looking at her iPad with the mic close to her mouth. There is a screen behind her with live close captioning and an ASL interpreter to her left.
Festival attendees seated outdoors . One of the audience members is wearing headphones for audio description services.
ReelAbilities Los Angeles 2022. A man and a seated outside facing forward. The man is wearing a traditional Mariachi suit and holding a roller walker. The woman is wearing a light brown long-sleeve shirt with white embroidery. Both have slight smiles on their faces.
Opening night of ReelAbilities Los Angeles 2022.Question and Answer Panel Discussion with the director and actor of CODA.Order of appearance on the main stage with the outdoor screen behind the panelist, left-right: Shoshannah Stern; Moderator, Siân Heder; writer and director, Troy Kotsur; Actor with MC xxx and ASL interpreter.
ReelAbilities Q&A of ReelAbilities International Shorts Panel. Order of appearance left to right, Jose Navas, and Ryan Mack is talking holding the microphone ,and Eyal Resh is to his right.
Adam Deyoe on a lawn chair with a young child seating next to him. They are both smiling, facing the camera.
Photo of Matt Wiener and another festival attendee posing in front of the step and repeat. Both facing the camera.
Down for Dance dancers with Downs Syndrome hold a flash mob outside of the AMC theater at Universal Citywalk
Peanut Butter Falcon team on the blue carpet
Guests pose for a photo on the blue carpet
Event volunteers in wheelchairs smile for the camera
Department on Disability staff at the check in table
Mom and daughter pose in front of check in table
RAFFLA event program
Department on Disability Staff behind the camera
Group photo in front of backdrop with event sponsors.

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