With the plethora of film festivals in our midst, I wanted to draw your attention to the uniqueness of ReelAbilities and the films it is bringing to our community this season. Please take a moment to take a deeper look at a festival that is reshaping our society and the way we perceive its largest minority. Many of our films are US premieres.

ReelAbilities: NY Disabilities Film Festival stands out as the leading festival of its kind. Not only is it the largest disability film festival in the US, running in 23 locations in NY from Feb 9-14, and in 12 more major cities throughout the year, it is also the most inclusive and progressive festival of its kind. The films included in the festival are top selections from around the world, covering disabilities as well as genres across the board.

All films are captioned and many have unique audio description created specifically for the festival. The multitude of locations also adds to the accessibility of the festival. But ultimately, it is the messages brought out through the selection of films that makes this festival so groundbreaking and relevant.

ReelAbilities avoids cliché representations of disabilities. Too often, the films presented in the mainstream that include disabilities have a patronizing attitudes and depict people with disabilities as subjects of pity. ReelAbilities selects films that are universal stories that frame the inclusion of a person with disabilities beyond the stereotypical tags and depictions. The drama in these films surpasses using disability for cheap affect and focuses on the human drama, as it is never the disability that defines the character. The films are simply great stories that celebrate the human spirit, and the drama comes from beyond the disability. In some festival favorites people with disabilities just happen to be characters in the films and the emphasis is the human story, not the disability.

Disabilities are often shied away from in society. ReelAbilities puts them forth and present for the audience to embrace. 

Films come from around the world, including Iran, Israel, Finland and Germany. Here are our french films:

Body and Soul - This documentary shows the lives of three Mozambicans with physical disabilities and their interactions and activities within their communities. Although they live in an impoverished society, these individuals raise the standard of living and quality of life for all. 

Reel-Encounters - A series of curated short films on different subjects: 

Two high-school stories of relationships: 

I Don’t Want to Go Back Alone - The fabulous tale of friendship and high-school crushes, when a blind boy in school falls for his best guy friend. Both the blindness and the homosexuality are secondary to the relationship story. 

Aglaee - A dramatic display of the awkwardness of adolescence, when a boy is forced to ask out a girl with Cerebral Palsy. When she turns him down, he mistreats her and deals with his shame in the unfortunate manner of many young teens. 

Two magnificent portrayals of being blind in: 10:4 (Ten to Four) and Sound Shadows. 

As well as a sweet family short: Anything You Can Do about two kids competing, but can one in a wheelchair keep up?

The Straight Line - A French film following a love story between a blind runner and his seeing partner who is an ex-con. The focus of the story is in the obstacles their family and friends put before their relationship. 

All films are presented with in depth conversations and special events. For the full list of times, locations, tickets, special events, guests and more information about the 4^th Annual ReelAbilities: NY Disabilities Film Festival visit: www.NY.ReelAbilities.org Tickets go on sale January 9^th, 2012.

Here is our 4th annual trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/user/ReelAbilitiesFest/featured

Please help spread the word and let me know if you need any more information.