NEW YORK, NY — May 4, 2026 — The 18th Annual ReelAbilities Film Festival: New York, the world’s leading festival promoting awareness and appreciation of the lives, stories, and artistic expressions of disability communities, concluded its weeklong celebration after presenting more than 35 films across over 20 venues throughout New York, New Jersey, and online.

Running April 23–30, the 2026 flagship festival met the moment with its most urgent, expansive, and artistically ambitious lineup to date. At a time when disability issues of access, autonomy, public health, caregiving, and independent living remain at the center of national and global conversations, ReelAbilities provided audiences a powerful reminder that disability-forward cinema is not limited to stories of hardship or triumph. It is comedy, critique, romance, resistance, reckoning, imagination, and artistry.

The festival opened with record numbers at The New School’s Tishman Auditorium with the East Coast premiere of Lone Wolves, Ryan Cunningham’s sharp romantic dramedy about autism, fertility, friendship, mental health, and what happens when carefully constructed plans collapse. The Opening Night celebration also honored Tony Award-winning actor, author, singer, and advocate Ali Stroker with the 2026 ReelAbilities Spotlight Award, recognizing her groundbreaking contributions to disability representation on stage, screen, and beyond.

ReelAbilities’ Centerpiece presentation, Disposable Humanity, directed by Cameron S. Mitchell, brought audiences into one of the most devastating and least-discussed chapters of disability history: the Nazi Aktion T4 program and the systematic killing of disabled people, a campaign that helped lay the groundwork for the Holocaust. The screening sparked essential conversations about eugenics, ableism, public policy, and the consequences of deciding whose lives — and what histories — are deemed worthy of remembering.

The 2026 lineup also included the New York premiere of No One Cares About Crazy People, narrated by Bob Odenkirk with music by Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy, offering a deeply reported look at the fractured mental health system in the United States through the lives of families, advocates, and those personally affected. Additional highlights included Viktor, Olivier Sarbil’s formally inventive portrait of a Deaf Ukrainian man during the Russian invasion; We Might Regret This, the BBC series reframing caregiving, friendship, intimacy, and independent living through comedy; My Everything, a tender and complicated portrait of parenthood, control, and letting go; Concerto for Other Hands, a moving story of music, adaptation, and father-son collaboration; and the Closing Night film Espina, Daniel Poler’s genre-bending Panamanian road movie blending risk, reward, and responsibility.

In a major new partnership with Rotten Tomatoes, ReelAbilities introduced the inaugural ReelAbilities Rotten Tomatoes Audience Award, inviting in-person and virtual festivalgoers to help recognize standout feature-length films and expand the critical and public conversation around disability storytelling.

The inaugural ReelAbilities Rotten Tomatoes Audience Award was earned by Concerto for Other Hands, directed by Ernesto González Díaz, recognizing the film’s moving portrait of music, adaptation, and father-son collaboration, affirming the power of disability-forward storytelling to connect with audiences both in theaters and online. Additional films were recognized in partnership with NYWIFT and Shine Global, further reflecting ReelAbilities’ commitment to building bridges across film, advocacy, education, and industry.

Now in its fifth year, the ReelAbilities Industry Summit returned April 27–28 as a hybrid in-person and online gathering designed to move beyond conversation toward meaningful, measurable change in entertainment. Presented in partnership with the New York City Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment, the Summit convened leaders in film, television, digital media, performing arts, advocacy, and accessibility alongside disabled creators, innovators, and decision-makers.

This year’s Summit featured a keynote address by Josh Sapan, former CEO of AMC Networks, and a conversation with award-winning actor, writer, improviser, and director Michael Patrick Thornton, along with sessions on authentic casting, disability-led storytelling, inclusive production, alternative distribution, new media, advertising, performing arts, and representation across the entertainment industry.

ReelAbilities also extended and expanded its work with AMC Networks and AMC+, beyond visibility into practical career support for disabled creatives. Through industry participation, mentorship, and the AMC Global Media Mentorship, the ongoing partnership helps connect emerging storytellers with entertainment leaders who can support the next stage of their creative and professional development.

The popular ReelAbilities Pitch Programs expanded its pipeline for disabled writers, directors, and producers through two tracks: Crip Script, for projects in development, and Rough Cut, for projects in the final stages of completion. Filmmakers presented bold fiction and nonfiction projects to industry leaders, competing for cash awards, mentorship, filmmaking equipment, post-production and accessibility support, distribution support, and other career-advancing opportunities.

2026 awardees included:

• The Dismantled by Jason DaSilva and Alice Elliott took home the Rough-Cut Pitch’s Loreen Arbus Completion Award, a $10,000 prize supporting a project in the final stages of completion. The film also gained one year of Women Make Movies webinars, access to Executive Director Debra Zimmerman’s fundraising webinar, a private screening from Gigantic Studios, and a meeting with an NBCUniversal executive to help expand industry relationships.

• In the Crip Script Nonfiction category, Blood Bias by Juliette Romeo was selected for a DOC NYC PRO PASS for one production team, while Liminal Space by Alicia Eastes will advance with mentorship from ITVS through Keri Archer Brown, Director of Content & Initiatives.

• In Crip Script Fiction, ARISE by Dan Iacovella earned the AMC Global Media Mentorship and Blackmagic filmmaking gear, connecting the project with both creative guidance and production resources.

• Additional Rough-Cut honors went to Don’t Look Away by Joseph Lingad, recognized with the ReelAbilities Accessibility Award and distribution support, and I Dream of Sharks by Matt Fletcher which will receive audio description services from Woman of Her Word.

• Pitch program jurors included leaders from ITVS, American Masters, Impact Partners, AMC Networks, Amazon Prime Video/MGM Studios, NBCUniversal, The Squeaky Wheel, Rotten Tomatoes, and Gigantic Studios.

Throughout the festival, ReelAbilities set new standards for accessible film exhibition. Every screening included open captions and audio description, with ASL interpretation and CART real-time captioning for Q&As, conversations, panels, and industry sessions. Festival access also included Braille and large-print materials, wheelchair-accessible venues, service animal accommodations, sensory-friendly spaces, designated quiet rooms, and select titles available for streaming from home.

“ReelAbilities is opening doors for disability inclusion in the film industry, reframing how disability is depicted and breaking new ground for disability representation,” said Isaac Zablocki, Co-Founder and CEO of ReelAbilities. “Our stories, told by the community itself, brings a refreshing, nuanced depiction of disability to the screen. The work showcased this year proves expectations have changed. Disability-forward stories are increasingly shaped by disabled creatives themselves, no longer constrained by antiquated stereotypes of tragedy or inspiration. We’re honored to spearhead this brave new world of disability-led storytelling.”

This year’s festival reaffirmed ReelAbilities’ role as a leader in disability-forward exhibition, authentic representation, and accessible cultural programming. From Opening Night’s celebration of Ali Stroker to the Industry Summit’s focus on hiring, funding, mentorship, and creative opportunity, the 18th annual festival made clear that disability is not a niche subject. It is a creative force reshaping the future of film, television, criticism, culture, and community.

The ReelAbilities Film Festival continues to change the stories we tell, who gets to tell them, and the conditions under which those stories are made. By centering disabled creatives, expanding industry access, and insisting on accessibility as both a practice and a promise, ReelAbilities is helping build a more imaginative, inclusive, and artistically ambitious screen culture.

A post-festival streaming window made select 2026 festival films available through May 3 at ReelAbilities.org/stream.

Submissions for the 19th Annual ReelAbilities Film Festival: New York are now open via FilmFreeway, with next year’s festival set for April 8–14, 2027. URL: https://filmfreeway.com/ReelAbilities

For more information, visit ReelAbilities.org and ReelAbilities.org/NewYork.

About ReelAbilities

Founded in 2007 in New York City, ReelAbilities has grown into the world’s leading film festival showcasing the lives, stories, and artistic expressions of people with disabilities. Now in its 18th year, ReelAbilities Film Festival: New York serves as the flagship of a network of more than a dozen affiliate festivals across North America. As an independent nonprofit, ReelAbilities continues to set new standards for accessible film exhibition, disability storytelling, industry inclusion, education, streaming, workplace engagement, and year-round community programming.