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Announcing the 2018 Superfest Disability Film Festival lineup

08/27/2018 LightHouse Staff

San Francisco’s LightHouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired and the Paul K. Longmore Institute on Disability at San Francisco State are proud to announce the lineup for this year’s Superfest Disability Film Festival.

Join us on October 20 at The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life in Berkeley and on October 21 the Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco for the best in unapologetic, accessible and cutting edge disability film.

Purchase tickets to Superfest 2018

Superfest is the longest running disability film festival in the world. Since it first debuted as a small Los Angeles showcase in 1970, it has become an eagerly anticipated international event. The festival is one of the few in the world to provide an accessible film experience to disabled filmgoers of all kinds.

Disability Rights advocate Alice Wong speaks at Superfest in 2017.

Each judge for Superfest is a member of the disability community, and they ground our festival in the values and ambitions of a progressive, Bay Area-driven disability ethos. The jury is comprised of filmographers, disability rights advocates, community organizers and award-winning creatives. They choose the submissions based on standards of artistry, portrayal of disability and ingenuity.

Superfest features films from five continents which highlight a range of experiences of people living with disabilities through a variety of genres and formats. From observational documentary to action to stop motion, we have films which will entertain, educate and promote discussion on disabilities.

Announcing the 2018 Superfest Lineup

Stumped (US, 2017), Documentary Short, Best of Festival – Short (25 minutes)

Climber Maureen Beck is not here to be your inspiration. She was born missing her lower left arm, but that hasn’t stopped her from going hard. “I don’t want to just be a good one-armed climber,” says Maureen. “I want to be a good climber.”

A climber ascends a free-standing rock, while two people stand on a rock below her.

Still Tomorrow (China, 2016), Documentary, Best of Festival – Feature (1 hour 23 minutes)

Yu Xiuhua is a village woman with cerebral palsy, who became China’s most well-known poet in 2015. Her 20-year-long arranged marriage has become the biggest pain in her life. Through her poems, she contemplates her fate and writes about her body and her desire for true love.

A woman stands with her back to the camera in a field of a dark, tall grassy crop.

Stim (US, 2017), Documentary Short, P.K. Walker Innovation in Craft Award (7 minutes)

An artistic ode to the practice of stimming, or self-stimulatory behavior, the repetition of physical movements or sounds, or repetitive movement of objects.

Lower-body shot of a child sitting cross-legged, grasping a blue plush toy with one hand.

Who Am I To Stop It (US, 2017), Documentary Short, Disability Justice Award (30 minutes)

This semi-observational documentary explores isolation, art and transformation after brain injury. Through cinéma vérité, the film follows Dani Sanderson, a poet and beat boxer, as she navigates autonomy, relationships, and questions of family, queer sexuality and faith.

A woman sits, reading a sheet with a poem entitled “Never Ending Trauma.”

To Know Him (UK, 2018), Dramatic Short (28 minutes)

When a tragic accident leaves Sarah grieving for her deaf partner Rob, she is forced to track down and engage with his estranged hearing father. To lay the man she loves to rest, Sarah must overcome a barrier far greater than language.

Two women sit, both with looks of concern, gazing towards the left. The woman, at left, is in focus and wears a black shirt.

Making Waves (Australia, 2017), Documentary Short (6 minutes)

Max McAuley is a young, professional dancer with Down Syndrome. In this story, Max is the principal dancer in a choreographed work that is inspired by the watery world of his dreams.

A boy dances in front of lights which mimic water, and below, subtitle: "Dancing is my thing that I love." — A boy dances in front of lights which mimic water, and below, subtitle: “Dancing is my thing that I love.”

Just Go! (Latvia, 2017), Action Short (11 minutes)

Inspired by the true story about a young man, Just, who lost both of his legs in a childhood accident. At age 24, he is in love with the girl next door, and through an action-packed series of events, the film proves that looks can be deceiving.

A young man rolls with his torso on a skateboard and arms pushing him past flowers in a market.

Gaelynn Lea – The Songs We Sing (US, 2017), Documentary Short (11 minutes)

Minnesota violinist and disability rights advocate Gaelynn Lea travels the upper Midwest on tour, experiencing the ups and downs of the road while hustling hard to make it as a performer and artist.

A woman cradles a violin while leaning towards a microphone.

This Is Normal (US, 2014), Dramatic Short (19 minutes)

A young deaf woman undergoes an experimental medical procedure that is supposed to “cure” her of her deafness and give her the ability to hear. Despite the controversy, Gwen risks her friends, culture and identity to discover the answer to the question, “Is it worth giving up who you’ve been for who you could become?”

A profile shot of a woman sitting in her car, looking distraught.

Journey to the Miracle Man (Sweden/Brazil, 2018), Documentary Feature (1 hour 5 minutes)

With as much hope as doubt, Fabian and Lisa travel on a journey that will change their worldview. But is the Miracle Man (John of God) the savior everyone is talking about? And do they need to believe to be healed?

A woman stands on a ledge in front of a fresh night sky with low, blue light in front of an open frontier. She holds her phone up to photograph the scene.

Kū Kanaka/Stand Tall (US, 2016), Documentary Short (28 minutes)

When 15-year-old Kanalu Young takes a dive into shallow water, he becomes quadriplegic, paralyzed from the neck down. Angry and defiant through months of rehabilitation, he begins to change when he learns the Hawaiian language, and discovers an untold story of Hawaiian history.

A group of people walk in a march, and one joins in a wheelchair. The people wear leis and flowers, and men wearing shirts that say "Security" surround at the bounds. — A group of people walk in a march, and one joins in a wheelchair. The people wear leis and flowers, and men wearing shirts that say “Security” surround at the bounds.

Stopgap in Stop Motion (UK, 2017), Animated Short (5 minutes)

Photographs of performers in a disabled and non-disabled dance company come to life. The individual artists dance out of the photos and across table tops until the whole company meets and performs in unison.

Two photographs sit upright beside a shelf of papers. At left, a man stands looking at his phone. In the photo at right, a woman sitting in a wheelchair smiles back at the camera.

Purchase tickets to Superfest 2018

Access at Superfest

As always, Superfest will be furnished with a wide range of accessible accommodations: audio description, open captions, ASL interpretation, audience-integrated wheelchair seating, close-up seating for people with low vision or who are deaf or hard of hearing, a chemical free and scent free area set back from rest of audience, a place to retreat, gender neutral restrooms, easy access to public transportation including BART and MUNI, and ramp access to the stage.

LightHouse News

Superfest 2017 Was Our Best Yet

11/13/2017 LightHouse Staff

Superfest was a blast this year, thanks to the participation and support of our community. What a beautiful weekend! All of our film screenings sold out and everyone seems to agree: it was the best Superfest yet.

LightHouse Director of Communications Will Butler speaks with Superfest attendees.

Sonja Ohldag laughs with friends and holds her guide dog Chief, who was the focus of a short documentary shown on Saturday.

At Superfest 2017, more people with disabilities told their stories through film than ever before. Nine of our filmmakers came to participate in panels, and we screened films shot and produced in Myanmar, Colombia, Germany, Vietnam, Australia, Japan, Canada, Italy and the United States. It was a unique experience to welcome these storytellers into our local community in conversations that deepened the global understanding around disability and its portrayal in film.

Two women, one standing and one in a wheelchair, laugh and talk at Sunday Superfest screening.

But there’s more! Chief, the protagonist of his short eponymous documentary, has a message for you: now you can celebrate Superfest International Disability Film Festival year round — as a Superfest Showcase host. Contact us to find out how you can support and host screenings in your city, thanks to a generous grant from the Neda Nobari Foundation.

Interested in sponsoring Superfest next year? Check out our Sponsorship packages and help support cutting-edge disability film for years to come.

Thank you to this year’s sponsors and foundation support!

Foundation Support

LightHouse News

Superfest 2017 Ups the Ante on Film Festival Diversity and Accessibility

10/27/2017 LightHouse Staff 1 Comment

Get ready for the 31st year of Superfest International Disability Film Festival on November 4 and 5 in San Francisco and Berkeley. We’re thrilled to announce our spectacular and diverse lineup, co-produced with the Paul K. Longmore Institute on Disability at San Francisco State University.

“When you’re a showing a film by or about someone with a disability, you can’t ignore the needs of the disabled audience,” says Emily Beitiks, Associate Director of the Longmore Institute, which co-sponsors the festival with LightHouse for the Blind. “The technology exists. It’s something every modern film festival needs to consider.”

At Superfest 2017, more people with disabilities will be telling their own stories through film than ever before. Our filmmakers are geographically diverse as well; we’ll be screening films shot and produced in Myanmar, Colombia, Germany, Vietnam, Australia, Japan, Canada, Italy and the United States. Furthermore, we will welcome filmmakers from more than half of these films in dialogue with our local community and each other to deepen the global conversation and movement around disability film.

Our best-of-festival feature, Deej, embodies this value as a one-of-a-kind collaboration between a veteran filmmaker and a nonspeaking autistic person. Director and producer Robert Rooy and subject and producer DJ Savarese share editorial control as they attempt to navigate the challenges of representing autism on-screen and the resources for parents with autistic children to help them out.

A local film, On Beat, tells the story of two deaf parents with hearing children who unite over a shared love of music. Get to know the filmmaker here.

And, without further ado, a complete list of our SuperFest 2017 films…

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 4, AFTERNOON

Buy tickets for Saturday’s showing.

CHIEF

Directed by Amir Jaffer

United States, 2016, Documentary Short

This reverent ode to the service dog tells the story of German immigrant Sonja Ohldag, who is diagnosed with a seizure disorder after moving to the U.S. in 1999. Unable to afford a service animal from an organization, Sonja trains her dogs herself and takes a chance on Chief, who is not your average service dog.

MIND/GAME: THE UNQUIET JOURNEY OF CHAMIQUE HOLDSCLAW

Directed by Rick Goldsmith

United States, 2015, Feature Documentary

Basketball superstar Chamique Holdsclaw faced six felony counts, the possibility of prison and public attacks on her character. Her rollercoaster attempts at recovery from near suicide reveal an uphill battle against the stigma of psychiatric disability and show a deep journey that is powerful, revelatory, instructive and real.

WHEN BRENDEN MET HIROE

Directed by Steve Mayer-Miller

Australia/Japan 2016, Documentary Short

A photographer from Australia returns to Japan to reunite with his friend Hiroe, who he met at a blind and deaf/blind workshop the year before. The pair spends an unforgettable day together.

THE BARBER OF AUGUSTA

Directed by Michèle Hozer

Canada, 2016, Documentary Short

Liane Yasumoto’s Jury’s Choice Award

Toronto native Matthew Genser goes to great lengths to find his unexpected superpower: cutting hair. Like all superheroes, he has a dark side; but in his costume, he’s invincible. Put on your cape and get lined up!

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 4, EVENING

TRAVELLER

Directed by Nwaye Zar Che Soe, Mine Aung Lin Tun, Pyae Zaw Phyo

Myanmar/Japan, 2014, Documentary Short

Disability Justice Award

Co-presented with CAAMFest

A young woman born with a disability searches for a career despite rampant discrimination. She travels to Japan where she finds strength in disability activism and community, and returns home with a newfound sense of pride.

ON THE OUTS: REENTRY FOR INMATES WITH DISABILITIES

Directed by Jordan Melograna

United States, 2016, Documentary short

“On the Outs” follows three inmates with disabilities as they prepare for reentry, get discharged and navigate the challenges of returning to their old lives. Produced by the Amplifying Voices of Inmates with Disabilities (AVID) Prison Project, this documentary scrutinizes the prison institution and its treatment of inmates with physical and emotional disabilities.

STAB: LIFE AS A VOODOO DOLL

Directed by Jeanette Castillo

United States, 2017, Animated Short

An animated comic medical memoir dedicated to all those who live with chronic illness or disability. Writer and director Jeanette Castillo pairs her tongue-and-cheek personal account of living with Type 1 diabetes with criticism of the American healthcare system.

SIGN

Directed by Andrew Keenan-Bolger

United States, 2016, Short

Two men meet on a train—and a tender and unspoken love story unfolds. Through vignettes, music and sign language, “Sign” follows the relationship between Ben (hearing) and Aaron (Deaf) as they navigate life’s milestones side by side.

IN CRYSTAL SKIN

Directed by Michaela O’Brien

United States/Colombia, 2016, Documentary Short

Best of Festival, Short

In Bogotá, Colombia, a charismatic 11-year-old named Maria lives with the limitations imposed by a rare skin disease. Her fierce bond with her mother is tested and strengthened as they struggle to preserve Maria’s swiftly passing childhood.

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 5, AFTERNOON

Buy tickets for Sunday’s showing.

DEEJ

Directed by Rob Rooy

United States, 2017, Documentary Feature

Best of Festival, Feature

After being abandoned by his birth parents, DJ found not only a loving family but a life in words through a text-to-voice synthesizer. Told by DJ himself, “Deej” was filmed over six years in the American Midwest and chronicles his journey to become Oberlin’s first non-speaking, autistic student.

LEFTY & LOOSEY

Directed by Zico Abrar

United States, 2016, Fictional Short

In this techy ode to film noir, two amputee veterans turned private investigators uncover a diabolical plot and must overcome their fears to crack the code and save the world.

RHIZOPHORA

Directed by Julia Metzger-Traber, Davide De Lillis

Germany/Vietnam, 2015, Documentary Short

Forty years after the Vietnam War, the toxic remnants of Agent Orange have not faded. In this dreamlike meditation on the impact of war and the resilience of humanity, “Rhizophora” follows 11 disabled Vietnamese youth on a whimsical, poignant and whirling journey through a day in their lives.

ON BEAT

Directed by Cheng Zhang, Reid Davenport

United States, 2015, Documentary Short

This documentary short follows the lives of a deaf couple with hearing children and the unexpected outlet that brings their family closer together.

WELL DONE

Directed by Riccardo Di Gerlando

Italy, 2016, Short

A sharply-dressed young man with Down syndrome sneaks out of his house to visit an art museum and causes a disruption. Through humor and irreverence, this film reminds us that art can be interpreted by everyone, not just the “experts.”

THE CHILI STORY

Directed by Patty Berne

United States, 2014, Animated Short

P.K. Walker Innovation in Craft Award

A true story about desire and the arousal of taboo on a BART train.

Special thanks to:

LightHouse News

Next Weekend is Superfest: Meet Filmmaker Michaela O’Brien

10/26/2017 LightHouse Staff

Now in its 31st year, Superfest International Disability Film Festival (November 4 – 5, in multiple locations in San Francisco and Berkeley) is gearing up for its spectacular, diverse lineup of films shot and produced in Myanmar, Colombia, Germany, Vietnam, Australia, Japan, Canada, Italy and the United States.

To get you excited for Superfest, we spoke with filmmaker Michaela O’Brien about her short documentary film In Crystal Skin, winner of the Superfest’s 2017 “Best of Festival – Short” award. The film tells the story of Maria, a charismatic eleven-year-old growing up in Bogotá, Colombia with an unusual skin disorder. Her fierce bond with her mother is tested and strengthened as they struggle to preserve Maria’s swiftly passing childhood.

O’Brien’s film will be featured at Superfest’s 6 p.m. screening on Saturday, November 4 at the Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life in Berkeley. Buy your tickets today.

Read the conversation below between Michaela and the Longmore Institute on Disability’s Celina Garcia.

Celina Garcia: What made you decide to make this film? What drew you to this subject?

Michaela O’Brien: In Crystal Skin began in 2010 after I traveled to Colombia to work as a photographer with a foundation that served children in Bogotá. While shooting, I met one of the main characters, and her grit and optimism captured my interest. The film was born from that chance encounter.

As a two-woman crew, Melissa and I filled all production roles while living alongside our characters in their homes. This allowed us to intimately experience their day-to-day routines and gave a rawness to our storytelling. We did all of our fundraising from a grassroots level by hosting events in our neighborhood and crowdsourcing through Indiegogo. It took a lot of stamina to keep an independent film afloat over the course of four years. We committed ourselves to raising funds, taking the time to do so between work and graduate school, but our dedication to the strength of the film’s characters kept us focused.

Emotionally engaging and visually stirring, In Crystal Skin offers glimpses of the fortitude embodied by those with Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB). This documentary highlights a dedicated network of patients, parents and doctors battling just one of the world’s 7,000 rare diseases. Our hope is that the personal experiences captured in this film will spur much needed dialogue about managing life with a rare disease.

CG: What were your preconceptions of Maria’s disability before making this film, and what did you learn through the process? How did that inform your stylistic/filmic decisions in building this story?

MO’B: While making In Crystal Skin I have learned a great deal about hope and perseverance from patients. I am continually impressed with patient’s ability to remain positive in the face of adversity. The people I have met with rare diseases want to move forward in life just like anyone else, and they have dreams and aspirations which they live to fulfill. One of the most beautiful forms of intelligence that those with rare diseases have is the understanding of uniqueness, and how to be proud of it. EB and rare disease patients desire to understand and express their individuality and deserve that utmost respect for that courageous act.

There are many moments from filming in Bogotá, Colombia with the subjects of In Crystal Skin which stand out in my mind. One particular conversation was with a young mother named Jackeline, whose 12-year-old daughter has dystrophic EB. One day while filming she broke down in tears and expressed very candidly the difficulties of being a mother of a child with a rare disease – the barriers it puts on a young woman basically confined to the house in order to provide constant care for her child, the financial burdens it places on a low-income family, and the difficulties of wanting your child to be treated normally, while understanding the fragility of their physical and emotional well-being. We talked for hours and in a way it was a cathartic experience both for her and for me. The conversations I have had both on and off camera bring the film closer to understanding the uniqueness of managing life with a rare disease.

CG: Why is film an important medium for increasing understanding of people with disabilities?

MO’B: Living with a rare disease which currently has no cure is tremendously difficult both for the patient and their family or caretaker. There is no end in sight for their disease or for the difficulties it causes. It can be a struggle to muster hope for the future when science can offer patients no resolution. EB is a disease of constant management, it requires intense care and maintenance, so though there is no cure, patients with EB hope for products and orphan drugs to alleviate their wounds and lessen the routine of constant care. Filmmaking is an exercise in relating to humanity by putting yourself in someone else’s shoes.

For both a filmmaker and a viewer, it can be an extremely powerful and transformative experience. Through the strength and struggle of the film’s characters, In Crystal Skin sheds light on life experiences rarely heard of, but which are universally relatable.

CG: What does being a part of Superfest, where your film will be seen by a primarily disabled audience, mean to you as a filmmaker?

MO’B: I am so excited to have the film at Superfest! To have the film be viewed by disabled and rare disease communities was one of the ultimate goals of the film. With In Crystal Skin I hope to empower disabled individuals and their families to share their stories and give voice to those who are very much in need of further scientific research and increased dialogue to spur social change and resources for the disabled.

CG: What do you think about the newly audio described version of your film?

MO’B: Having the film audio described was an interesting process. It was difficult for me to get used to because it becomes so much more an auditory experience and I had become used to mainly relying on the visuals with less dialogue. I am very pleased that having the film audio described will make it more accessible to the visually impaired.

Join us Saturday, November 4 at 6 p.m. to experience this important film for yourself!