7:00 PM

PRIVATE GALA SCREENING

THE PEANUT BUTTER FALCON

Directors: Tyler Nilson, Michael Schwartz

USA | 2019 | 93 min | English | DCP

Featuring very special guests!

A modern Mark Twain style adventure story, THE PEANUT BUTTER FALCON tells the story of Zak (Zack Gottsagen), a young man with Down Syndrome, who runs away from a residential nursing home to follow his dream of attending the professional wrestling school of his idol, The Salt Water Redneck (Thomas Haden Church). A strange turn of events pairs him on the road with Tyler (Shia LaBeouf), a small time outlaw on the run, who becomes Zak’s unlikely coach and ally. Together they wind through deltas, elude capture, drink whisky, find God, catch fish, and convince Eleanor (Dakota Johnson), a kind nursing home employee charged with Zak’s return, to join them on their journey. (Down Syndrome)

11:00 AM

Shorts Showcase

5 Films

This series highlights a selection of disability films from around the world.

“CODA”  director Cassandra Jones and actress Erika David-Marsh in-person for Q&A!

IAN

Directed by Abel Goldfarb

Argentina | 2017 | 10 min | Spanish | DCP

Ian uses a wheelchair. All he wants is to make friends, but discrimination keeps him away from the playground. (Wheelchair User)

SHAKESPEARE IN TOKYO

Directed by Genevieve Clay-Smith

Australia | 2018 | 21 min | English | DCP

A Shakespeare fan with Down Syndrome sets off on a solo adventure to discover Tokyo and to prove his independence. (Down Syndrome)

MAPPING THE DISABILITY TRAP

Directed by Jason Dasilva

USA | 2018 | 14 min | English | DCP

Filmmaker Jason DaSilva presents a healthcare crisis as he tries to be closer to his son who lives 2,000 miles away. (Multiple Disabilities)

ON THE SPECTRUM

Directed by Yuval Shafferman

Israel | 2018 | 25 min | Hebrew | DCP

Three roommates in their twenties, all on the autism spectrum, share an apartment while learning to contend with the world around them. (Autism)

CODA

Directed by Erika Davis-Marsh

USA | 2019 | 22 min | English | DCP

A young dancer struggles with her identity and growing up hearing in a deaf family. (Deafness)

1:30 PM

SUICIDE: THE RIPPLE EFFECT

Directed by Kevin Hines and Greg Dicharry

USA | 2017 | 93 min | English | DCP – Feature Film

(Free panel discussing mental health, disability an)d resiliency to follow the film.)

At age 19, Kevin Hines attempted to take his own life by jumping from the Golden Gate Bridge. Seventeen years later, he still struggles with many of the same symptoms that led him to attempt suicide, but he is on a mission to use his story to help others stay alive. (Mental Health)

3:30 PM

PANEL DISCUSSION

I’ll Go On:  Mental Health, Disability & Resiliency

Mental health illnesses are common in the United States, yet many people are not receiving services. This panel will examine why so many people are affected by mental health illnesses, why there is so much stigma and the connection between mental health and resiliency. It will also shed light on the connection between the mental health community and the disability community.

Moderator: Marielle Kriesel, Systems Change Advocate, Disability Community Resource Center

Panelists: Dr. Jorge Zamora, PsyD, Doctor of Psychology and Licensed Clinical Psychologist; Amy McKnight, MSW, LCSW, Clinical Social Work Supervisor; Rick Mogil, Program Director, Suicide Bereavement Services, Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services; Gabriel Lopez, Volunteer, LGBT National Help Center

6:30 PM

THE DRUMMER & THE KEEPER

Directed by Nick Kelly

Ireland | 2017 | 92 min | English | Narrative | DCP – Feature Film

With Writer/Director Nick Kelley in-person for Q&A!

Gabriel is a drummer in a promising band, desperate to hide his bipolar diagnosis from his exasperated band mates. At a therapeutic mixed-ability soccer game he’s obliged to attend, Gabriel meets Christopher, a teenager with Asperger’s Syndrome, and the two are forced to “make friends”. (Aperger’s Syndrome, Bipolar Disorder)

9:00 PM

FREAKS

Directed by Tod Browning

USA | 1932 | 64 min | English | DCP – Feature Film

Co-presented by Vidiots! Featuring a recently re-mastered 1:33 digital print! Conversation afterwards with co-director and programmer Michael Dougherty, filmmaker and festival co-director Jodi Wille, and the audience! 

In this strange, stellar classic of American cinema, a circus’ beautiful trapeze artist agrees to marry the leader of side-show performers, but his deformed friends discover she is only marrying him for his inheritance. This fictionalized film was based on the true life experiences of circus sideshow freaks in the 1930s and was made by a Hollywood director who had worked directly in the circus and with sideshow performers for years. (Multiple Disabilities)

11:00 AM

EASTER SEALS DISABILITY FILM CHALLENGE

Shorts Showcase

4 Films

Actor and filmmaker Nic Novicki, Director Amy Hopper, writer and actor Emily Hopper, Director Carl Hansen, Director Shaina Ghuraya and actress Nicole Evans in-person for Q&A

Created by Nic Novicki and sponsored by Easterseals, the film challenge invites participants to make a film over a single weekend “that helps change the way the world defines and views disability.” The winners of this year’s challenge will be screened.

PARENTS, INC

Directed by Harald Zwart

USA | 2019 | 5 min | English | DCP

A teenage girl living in a post-apocalyptic world struggles with the new reality she lives in, along with unreasonable parents. (Amputee)

I/O

Directed by Carl Hansen

USA | 2019 | 5:34 | English | DCP

A man struggles to reveal to his girlfriend that he’s been dating her through his robot. (Multiple Disabilities)

THE VANISHED

Directed by Catriona Rubenis-Stevens and Rachel Handler

USA | 2019 | 5 min | English | DCP

Inception meets Groundhog Day as Alice’s friends begin to disappear and she must choose between constantly reliving the same nightmare, or vanishing into the unknown. (Amputee)

HUMAN HELPER

Directed by Shaina Kaur Guraya

USA | 2019 | 5 min | English | DCP

In the near future, artificially intelligent robots, otherwise known as human helpers, are a regular part of life. However, they’re not very inclusive. Dr. Rachel Hubbert and her assistant Tony have made it their mission to make them not ableist. (Wheelchair User)

1:00 PM

PANEL DISCUSSION

Disability Authenticity On Screen:  

Why People with Disabilities Should be Seen in Authentic and Nondescript Roles

Panel Sponsored by the Paul Ruderman Foundation

Should a person with a disability play a person with a disability or should someone without a disability play someone with a disability?  Is it all just acting?

This provocative discussion will focus on why authentic representation of people with disabilities in film and television is socially and financially significant.  It will also look at the importance of non-descript roles on screen (both big and small) and why actors with disabilities should have the opportunities afforded to those in the non-disabled community. Panel sponsored by the Ruderman Family Foundation.

Moderator: Danny Woodburn

Panelists:  Jenni Gold, Feature Film Director; Diana Elizabeth Jordan, Actor/activist RJ Mitte, Actor, advocate; Gail Williamson, Agent

3:00 PM

THE R-WORD

Directed by Amanda Lukoff

USA | 2018 | 66 min | English | DCP – Feature Film

Co-presented by Women Under the Influence!

With Director Amanda Lukoff in-person in conversation with Women Under the Influence’s Tabitha Denholm

The R-Word is a purposeful look into the long-reaching history and lasting implications of the word retard(ed) and current attitudes and perceptions about people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Through the personal narrative of four sibling stories and the first-person accounts of self-advocates, we get an intimate and nuanced perspective of the challenges and triumphs of people living with an intellectual disability. The R-Word is an unflinching, heartwarming, humorous, and hopeful journey through our shared human experience. (Intellectual Disabilities)

5:00 PM

CHAINED FOR LIFE

Directed by Aaron Schimberg

USA | 2019 | 91 min | English | DCP – Feature Film

Skype interview with Director Aaron Schimberg!

Concerning the on- and off-screen relationship between a beautiful actress (Jess Weixler) and her leading man (Adam Pearson), an actor living with a severe facial difference, CHAINED FOR LIFE is a spiritual cousin to the likes of Tod Browning, Werner Herzog, and David Lynch, weaving a hypnotic and surreal depiction of art and identity that challenges our preconceived notions of appearances and how film images influence the way we think and feel about those who are “other”. (Facial difference).