The 16th edition of the ReelAbilities Film Festival: New York, concluded last night with the announcement of its recognition as an independent nonprofit organization, following a week of over 40 film screenings and events at 12 venues throughout the greater NYC area, with over 100 guest filmmakers and speakers.
On April 3, The festival opened at the Times Center with the NYC premiere of the film “EZRA” and the presentation of the ReelAbilities Spotlight Award to EGOT-winning actress, comedian, radio host and television personality, Whoopi Goldberg, by last year’s awardee, Academy Award Winner Troy Kotsur.
The sold out event brought together members of the film industry alongside the diverse disability population and city officials who shared and celebrated disability inclusion, including director of the opening night film, Tony Goldwyn, actresses Amy Smart and Abigail Hawk, producer and comedian Pavar Snipe and others, joined by Jane the Virgin’s Brett Dier, Ramy’s Steve Way, piano virtuoso John Bayles, among others throughout the festival week.
The festival also hosted its 3rd annual Industry Summit, bringing together professionals and industry leaders to discuss disability inclusion and equity in film and performing arts. This year the industry days offered an expanded pitching program, awarding filmmaker Cameron Mitchell and his project “Disposable Humanity” with cash by the Loreen Arbus foundation and AMC Networks, along with an Audio Description award by Woman of Her Word. In the Crip Script Pitch Competition, the award in the TV category went to “Debra”, by Kimberly Manky; the fiction category went to Andrew Reid and his project “Asia A”; and in the non-fiction category to Derek Dabkoski for his project “No Handicap”. The winning projects received mentorship opportunities provided by AMC Networks and ITVS, as well as software subscriptions to Coverfly and Final Draft. Also in the non-fiction category, the project “Monstrous Me” by Ariel Baska was awarded the Sunny Side of the Doc Award, with an invitation to pitch the project at the prestigious international film market in France. Lastly, the project “Cripping Up”, by filmmaker Rachel Handler, was awarded with filmmaking equipment by Blackmagic Design.
The festival concluded last night with the NY Premiere of “Good Bad Things” by director Shane Stanger. At the closing remarks the festival announced additional awards presented by NYWIFT to Ella Glendining’s “Is There Anybody Out There?” and Violeta Ayala’s “La Lucha”, as well as Sunny Side of the Doc Impact award to “Sexual Healing” by director Elsbeth Fraanje, and Shine Global Children’s Resilience in Disability Stories Award to “OKTHANKSBYE” by director Nicole Van Kilsdonk.
Founded in 2007, The ReelAbilities Film Festival has grown to be the leading disability film festival in the world. Created and developed at the Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan’s Carole Zabar Center For Film, ReelAbilities has expanded into an international program with affiliate festivals in over 20 cities across the globe, Industry Summit, VOD Streaming Platform, educational programs, and more. As the 16th edition of the flagship festival in New York has wrapped, ReelAbilities will now have its own nonprofit organization: ReelAbilities International Incorporated.
“ReelAbilities has grown organically and has become a true leader in the field of disability and film,” says Isaac Zablocki, Founder and Executive Director of ReelAbilities International Incorporated, the new organization. “It became clear that it was time for ReelAbilities to spread its wings and be more strategic with its expansion and international oversight. There is so much more work that needs to be done in terms of cultural inclusion of disabilities, and ReelAbilities is excited to have the right footing to expand this work.”
The Marlene Meyerson JCC in Manhattan has long been a leading center for arts, culture and film and an innovative space for disability programs. The JCC will continue to be the leading location of its flagship festival in New York, but this incorporation will allow the festival to continue its international expansion as an independent organization.
“The JCC is an incubator for great programs,” says Rabbi Joanna Samuels, CEO of the Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan. “We are proud to see our programs grow beyond our community and are excited to help ReelAbilities expand into its next iteration and impact disability inclusion on a global level.”
ReelAbilities Film Festival was founded in New York by Anita Altman and Isaac Zablocki with a groundbreaking approach to disability and accessibility. The festival soon began a national expansion due to the high demand for satellite locations in other cities including Los Angeles, Boston, Houston and many others and has expanded beyond the US to Toronto, Mexico City and other cities in Latin America. With the rise in demand for inclusion of people with disabilities in the film industry, in front of, and behind the camera, ReelAbilities has become one of the leading resources for diversity work in this field and a national accessibility leader providing educational programs, workplace and corporate diversity training, a film streaming site, and much more. ReelAbilities also hosts an annual industry summit to further equity, accessibility and inclusion in the film and performing arts industries.
