Stormchaser The Butterfly and the Tornado

via YouTube:

Documentary which follows tornado researcher and weather fanatic Sam Hall on an epic road trip across the US in search of some of the planet's most violent storms. This would be a gruelling trip for the toughest of individuals, but there's an added challenge for Sam as she has a skin condition known as Epidermolysis...



h/t to indigojo_uk on Twitter

Aqua, a short film by a 17 year old

The teen filmmaker says that this is a project done over the past year and a half, which began with the simple ideas of a cat, fear and waking up surrounded by water. It turned into a wonderful animated short film about hope. Remember the name Gints Zilbalodis, filmmaker.

Aqua from Gints Zilbalodis on Vimeo.

Wheelchair Tango

A short film about a young man using a wheelchair who meets a young woman using a wheelchair...

Shameless: The Art of Disability

via the SDS list serv: Below I've embedded the film Shameless: The Art of Disability and its description from NFB.ca

Art and activism are the starting point for a funny and intimate portrait of five surprising individuals with diverse disabilities. Packed with humour and raw energy, this film follows the gang of five from B.C. to Nova Scotia as they create and present their own images of their disabilities

A short film on disability

This short film by Praveen K. raises the question of how we see what we choose to see as it follows a young man getting out of bed, riding to work on a scooter, seated at his desk working - and then shows him leaving work on crutches, followed, in part, by the message that we see what we choose to see and the words: "There is only one disability - the disability to accept".

Oliver : a short film

Here's a short film about a young man with Down syndrome - who deals with his experience of being bullied in a creative way.



[visual description:In this short film entitled Oliver, a young man with Down syndrome is stopped by a bully on his way home from work. A coworker comes to his aid. That night, as he lays in bed, he replays the scene in a cartoon/comic strip montage, with himself as Superman. In the comic strip, he confronts the bully, takes away his cigarettes and tells him that smoking isn't good for him. He gets out of bed in the morning and you can see a Superman outfit underneath his work clothes.]

Ingmar Bergman,"the poet with a camera", dies at 89

During my short stint as a film major in college, I studied the films of Ingmar Bergman- The Seventh Seal, Smiles of a Summer Night, and so many more- and pondered over his childhood as the son of a minister. Themes of religion were scattered throughout his films in a world where God was either seen as malevolent - and faith an elusive thing for men and women. Toward the end, his films took on a theme that showed love toward humanity.

"Once, when asked by the critic Andrew Sarris why he did what he did, Mr. Bergman told the story of the rebuilding of Chartres Cathedral in the Middle Ages by thousands of anonymous artisans.

“I want to be one of the artists of the cathedral that rises on the plain,” he said. “I want to occupy myself by carving out of stone the head of a dragon, an angel or a demon, or perhaps a saint; it doesn’t matter; I will find the same joy in any case. Whether I am a believer or an unbeliever, Christian or pagan, I work with all the world to build a cathedral because I am artist and artisan, and because I have learned to draw faces, limbs, and bodies out of stone. I will never worry about the judgment of posterity or of my contemporaries; my name is carved nowhere and will disappear with me. But a little part of myself will survive in the anonymous and triumphant totality. A dragon or a demon, or perhaps a saint, it doesn’t matter!”

Via NY Times

By the way, his film "Music In Darkness" depicts a soldier blinded (while trying to rescue a puppy on a shooting range ) who turns down a female suitor because of her lack of social standing. (I've linked to a review above.) Bergman doesn't give the film an inspirational twist. The soldier is turned down when applying to a music academy despite his talent while the female suitor, Ingrid, goes on to succeed. One of the things I like about this film is how it juxtaposes different issues of class - along with how disability, as a lesser social status, interplays with other class issues. The film is weakened, however, by its sentimental treatment of disability.

The Swedish film is from 1948 and alternate titles include Musik i mörker, Night Is My Future.

[visual description: Photo, via NY Times, shows Bergman in a director's chair in the 60's. He is holding a camera and is dressed in dark attire.]

Sprout Film Festival 2007 in NYC

Showcasing film related to the field of developmental disabilities

Taking place on Friday April 27th and Saturday April 28th at New York
University's Cantor Film Center, 36 East 8th Street, and on Sunday
April 29th at the International Hostel at 103rd St. and Amsterdam
Avenue. Festival highlights include "My Brother" starring Vanessa
Williams, "Life In the Shadows" a documentary about President
Kennedy's efforts to help the disabled, "Brain Man" a documentary
about autistic savant Daniel Tammet and "Kids Like These" a 1986 movie
starring Tyne Daly. Please visit their website for more information.

Via SDS list serve

Autism documentary shows at Sundance

"Without Apology" - out on DVD

Via listserv Inclusive Ministries

The movie "Without Apology", about a family whose son with cognitive limitations was institutionalized (and later sent to a group home after abuses in the institution were revealed), has been released on DVD. The movie is a step in the long process of revealing the family's secret that they had a child with a disability. The story is told from the view of his sister who indicated that her brother was never mentioned at home once he was sent away.

Anyone seen this movie? I'm looking for a review by a person with a disability. If anyone is interested, you can email at their website for a free copy of this movie on VHS to view.