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Day 1
September 9
Opening Night & Shorts
Studio Xfinity
Photographer Rick Guidotti left the fashion world along with its restrictive parameters of the industry’s standard of beauty and re-focused his lens on those too often relegated to the shadows. Feature Short (32 min)
* Special Guests in attendance - Mike McGowan (Executive Director, National Organization for Albinism and Hypopigmentation) and Kelly Collins (Director of Individual Fundraising, Chromosome 18 Registry & Research Society)
Enter a world where sound gives shape to space. Short (7 min)
A gorgeously realized profile of an ordinary workday in the life of a stevedore, who executes his job with surprising grace and simplicity—but when Sunday comes, an altogether different man emerges. Language: Portuguese. Short (7 min)
A coming-of-age love story about a wealthy young man with social disorders who meets a woman at a group for people with intellectual disabilities. Short (16 min)
DAY 2
September 10
Wretches & Jabberers
Chicago Cultural Center
Two men with autism–an accomplished artist and an activist–embark on a global quest to change attitudes about autism and intelligence. Tracy Thresher and Larry Bissonnette travel to Sri Lanka, Japan and Finland, dissecting, challenging, and reshaping public conceptions along the way. Feature Film (1hr 34min)
An animated glimpse into the sensory overload experienced by people with autism. Short (3 min.)
PANEL DISCUSSION: Charles Torpe, JJ Hanley, Dunham Leiner, Jon Montgomery
DAY 3
September 11
Special Screenings
University Of Notre Dame
Lott Industries in Toledo, Ohio, employs more than 1200 workers, all with developmental disabilities. Threatened with closure, the company has twelve months to reinvent itself. The film follows Lott’s critical year from the perspectives of three unique and unforgettable people – Wanda, TJ and Kevin. Feature Film (1hr 30min)
Little World
CHICAGO CULTURAL CENTER
Albert loves life, and he won’t let anything get in his way, least of all his wheelchair. He’s only 19, but he’s already traveled to dozens of countries. He’s made a sport of leaving with only 20 euros in his pocket and putting his faith in the innate goodness of people he meets along the way. And he has plenty of other tricks up his sleeve to get into places free of charge if he needs to. This time, his destination is as far away as possible from his home in Barcelona: a lighthouse in New Zealand. Languages: Catalan, Spanish, English. Feature Film (1hr 24min)
A wheelchair user tries to get home using public transportation – and finds himself on an arduous journey. Short (4 min.)
* TRAVEL TALK: Networking reception for meeting world traveling Chicagoans with disabilities.
DAY 4
September 12
FIXED
the national museum of health and medicine
FIXED: THE SCIENCE/FICTION OF HUMAN ENHANCEMENT
Told through the perspectives of five individuals with disabilities, the implications of emerging biological and human technology enhancement is analyzed. Holding professional knowledge, as well as firsthand experience, a textured and personal debate is ensued. FIXED enlightens and challenges the regular human body, and what it means to fundamentally be a human in the 21st century. Feature Film (61min)
Exhibit – TECHABILITY
This free exhibit looks at the history of mobility, the present day technological advances, and the future of universal design and accessibility. The exhibit includes interactive timelines and current innovations, such as 3D printing, mobile apps, robotics, transportation, accessibility within cultural institutions and universal design. TechAbility explores the evolution of technology and how it continues to change the lives of individuals with disabilities.
Six Points About Emma
Columbia College Film Row Cinema
Emma is a magnetic, attractive, almost thirty-year old blind woman. Determined to have a baby, she sets out on a search for a man to get her pregnant. Two apparently ideal candidates appear in Emma’s life: Germán, a psychologist she knows from a therapy group she attends, and her young neighbor, Diego. Emma’s objective seems easy enough to achieve, but our heroine soon falls into the trap of her own devising and discovers that blindness comes in many forms. Language: Spanish. Feature Film (1hr 26min)
A young woman with Down Syndrome grapples with her identity and her potential as a mother after an unplanned pregnancy with her boyfriend. Starring Lauren Potter from Glee. Short (14 min.)
Scarlet Road
Impassioned about freedom of sexual expression, Australian sex worker Rachel Wotton specializes in a long overlooked clientele— people with disabilities. Working in New South Wales—where prostitution is legal— Rachel’s philosophy is that human touch and sexual intimacy can be the most therapeutic aspects to our existence. Indeed, she is making a dramatic impact on the lives of her customers. Feature Film (1hr 11min)
Come As You Are
A quirky road movie about three young men with disabilities on a quest to lose their virginity. These buddies enjoy the finer things in life, including wine and song; the only thing missing is the touch of a woman. Isolated by their disabilities and cared for by their parents at home, they convince their families they need to go to Spain on a “wine tour” but this is a cover for their true destination—a Spanish brothel that caters to men with disabilities. Languages: Dutch, Flemish, French, English, Spanish. Feature Film (1hr 50min)
GUEST SPEAKER: Todd Bauer & Panel Discussion
DAY 5
September 13
Lost and Sound & CLOSing Reception
Reva & David Logan Center for the Arts
What would happen to the music you love, if your hearing was lost? Made by a partially deaf filmmaker after the future of her own hearing was called into doubt, Lost and Sound is a moving and fascinating documentary that follows music critic Nick Coleman, dancer Emily Thornton and pianist Holly Loach over 2 years, as they journey deep into sound and silence to rediscover music after deafness. Feature Film (1hr 16min)
12-year old Mazin looks forward to hearing with cochlear implants – but his friends make him second guess the operation. Language: Dutch. Short (20 min.)
Getting Up
After being diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s disease and rendered almost completely paralyzed, graffiti artist TemptOne regains his creative voice through technology that reads the movement of his eyes and enables him to create art once again. Feature Film (1hr 14min)
A portrait of 11-year-old Anne, who has Tourette Syndrome. Language: Dutch. Short (22 min.)
SPECIAL PERFORMANCE: Arlene Malinowski