Victoria Government
The Other Film Festival starts tomorrow. The festival began in 2004. It shows films about people with a disability. The films have been made all over the world. The films show the lives of people with a disability in many different ways. The festival also shows how cinema can be accessible to all people with a disability.
Posted by: Janice Florence, on 24/08/10
An image from one of the festival's short films A Broken Puzzle by Dianne Reid
It is rare to see films about people with a disability. Often people with a disability in films are shown in very limited ways. Films tend to focus on the disability itself rather than the rich, diverse personalities that we are.
The Other Film Festival was begun in 2004 by Arts Access to go far beyond the stereotypes. It aims to show Melbourne audiences great films. It gathers high quality films from all over the world. The program includes many films made by directors and actors with a disability.
The festival dares to dream that one day everybody’s story will be written boldly across the cinema screen,
says festival director Rick Randall. Organisers also hope that universal access to the cinema will be the norm, not the exception,
Mr Randall says.
This year’s festival starts tomorrow (Wednesday, August 24) and finishes on Sunday, August 29. The program includes drama, comedy and documentaries. Films come from countries including Italy, the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Israel and South Korea. There are also many Australian films.
Some of the festival highlights include:
This year’s festival also has an unusual guest. Canadian Rob Spence is a director and cinematographer. He lost the use of his eye in a shooting accident when he was just 15 years old. He now has a miniature camera fitted into his eye socket. Rob will use the camera to film audiences in his show Eyeborg: The Future is Here.
The festival also includes forums and workshops. Topics for discussion include cinema access, an introduction to acting, and film editing.
The festival patron is award-winning filmmaker Adam Elliot. Elliot says the festival celebrates diversity and what it is to be human - our good bits and those other bits as well.
The Other Film Festival starts tomorrow and is held at the Melbourne Museum. For the full program, booking details and other information, visit the festival website (opens new window).
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