Academy Award-winning actress Marlee Matlin told reporters, “There have been only a handful of people talking about the lack of inclusion of people with disabilities” in the film industry and Hollywood. Read more
arts
Film Festival to Celebrate People with Disabilities
An upcoming festival will highlight people with disabilities in the film and media industries. Read more
NYT Profile: Emmanuel Dongo in Liberia
The New York Times profiles a Liberian musician who uses a wheelchair and lives in a slum in Monrovia, the country’s capital city. Read more
Russia Beyond The Headlines
Russian and American journalists work together to raise awareness about disabilities
Several Russian and American journalists and film directors have trained a group of 60 people with disabilities to tell stories from their lives through short documentaries. On Sept. 19, the group premiered its first film festival in Moscow. Read more
Disability Film Challenge
Winners have been announced for the inaugural Disability Film Challenge. The 48 hour competition gave participants just two days to complete production of a short film on the topic of disability. The purpose was to incorporate more disabled film makers, writers, directors and actors into the business. The winners are as follows:
Best Film – “Hands Down” by John Lawson
Best Actor – Rachel Handler, “Disabilidates”
The winning films will screen at the TCL Chinese Theaters in Hollywood during the HollyShorts Film Festival, August 14-23.
Schneider Family Book Awards Announced
The Schneider Family Book Awards honoring books that highlight the disability experience were announced this week along with the renowned Caldecott and Newbery awards for children’s literature by the American Library Association. The awards are given to authors and illustrators in three different categories “for a book that embodies an artistic expression of the disability experience for child and adolescent audiences.” This year’s winners included stories about an artist wounded while serving in World War I, a princess with a foot deformity who helps chase dragons and a courageous American pilot who is captured by Nazis and sent to a concentration camp.
2014 Winners:
Young children’s book: “A Splash of Red: The Life and Art of Horace Pippin,” written by Jen Bryant and illustrated by Melissa Sweet
Middle grades book: “Handbook for Dragon Slayers,” written by Merrie Haskell
Teen book: “Rose Under Fire,” written by Elizabeth Wein
The Schneider Family Book Awards are supported by Katherine Schneider, who also funds the Katherine Schneider Journalism Award for Excellence in Reporting on Disability through a grant administered by the National Center on Disability Reporting.
NPR
Actors With Disabilities In Big Roles? ‘We Don’t Have A Chance’
Actors with disabilities are often passed over for lead roles, even when the character actually has a disability, according to this Code Switch blog from NPR.
Frustrated actors and other players in the industry complain this is a major Catch-22, keeping them out of jobs and, as a result, keeping an honest portrayal of people with disabilities from audiences. Take, for example, the new remake of “Ironside” which premiered this week on NBC. In both the 1960s version starring Raymond Burr and the modern version with Blair Underwood, the lead is a paraplegic detective. Also in both versions, neither Burr nor Underwood were/are disabled. Read more.
WTTG-TV (Washington, D.C.)
‘Glee’ Honored at American Association of People With Disabilities Awards Gala
The creators of Fox’s hit show “Glee” want to make you laugh and think. The episodes are produced with messages about inclusion no matter what you look like, your sexuality or disability.
The Grand Rapids (Mich.) Press
ArtPrize artists with disabilities: Words fail her, but art doesn’t
Elaine Hoogeboom takes a deep breath before she starts to talk about her art.
She knows what she wants to say. But she has aphasia, a disorder that results from damage to portions of the brain that are responsible for language. It’s hard for her to remember words, put together sentences and understand what people have told her.
NPR
Sean Forbes Paves The Way For Deaf Musicians
“Def” has been a part of hip-hop lexicon since the early 1980s, but for Sean Forbes, it means something different. The 28-year-old from suburban Detroit has been deaf since he was a baby but says that hasn’t stopped him from making music. He recently released a new single called “I’m Deaf,” and is busy recording more songs for an upcoming album. Forbes says music has always been part of his life.