03-04-2025
3 Films Not To Miss Out On At The 2025 ReelAbilities Film Festival
The annual ReelAbilities Film Festival is the premier showcase of disability-focused storytelling in ... More the U.S.
This evening is the opening night for the 2025 ReelAbilities Film Festival. Running till April 9 and now in its 17th year, ReelAbilities is the country's premier showcase for disability-focused filmmaking and storytelling. Since its inception in 2007, the festival has grown to incorporate over a dozen affiliate events across North America but will always maintain its roots in NYC.
In keeping with this, the opening night of the festival, which prides itself on being an exemplar of 100% accessible screenings, will take place at the multidisciplinary creative arts centre, The Shed. The festival opens with a special screening of The Trouble with Mr Doodle, a powerful documentary directed by Academy Award-nominated directors Jaimie D'Cruz ("Exit Through the Gift Shop") and Ed Perkins. The film explores the intersection of artistic expression, mental health and family dynamics through the story of social media sensation Sam Cox, whose compulsive doodling transformed his home into a black and white masterpiece that captured the public's imagination.
This year will also see a special award for wheelchair user Marissa Bode who was authentically cast to play the part of Nessarose in the film adaptation of Wicked. Bode is the first wheelchair user to play the role and her stellar performance has inspired casting directors for the Broadway version to follow suit by casting from within the disability community.
Below are 3 mind-blowing features hoping to make a splash at this year's festival:
Brought to the screen by the same team that created the original Rising Phoenix in 2020 ahead of the Tokyo Paralympics, this latest edition of the Rising Phoenix franchise will have its world premiere at the ReelAbilities Film Festival.
Though also touching on parasport in the lead up to the 2024 Paralympics in Paris, this sequel has a far broader lens than its predecessor, exploring the views and stories of disabled trailblazers across the worlds of business, media and entertainment. Luminaries include Caroline Casey founder of The Valuable 500 and legendary director of Crip Camp Jim Lebrecht who is part of the production team.
The film engagingly and persuasively presents the case for a modern-day take on the social model of disability. The core message is that the most important impediments affecting disabled people today are not limitations of their bodies but rather exclusionary attitudes and low expectations transposed on them by wider society. Like the eponymous Phoenix, the documentary participants have all risen over seemingly insurmountable barriers to prove the power of mind over matter.
A New Revolution is directed by Sheridan O'Donnell, a filmmaker who identifies as having a visual disability and a crew consisting of 50% disabled creatives.
Directed by Anthony Lucero, this heart-warming family drama stars Lance Kinsey (Lethal Weapon, Police Academy 2 & 4) as Oscar, a single father who has dedicated his life to bringing up his son Billy, who is in his early twenties, has a relatively severe form of cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair. Biliy is authentically portrayed by Cole Massey who gives an uplifting performance.
After Oscar is diagnosed with colon cancer, he reflects on whether he could have better prepared Billy for the outside world by encouraging him to be more independent. With this in mind, he embarks on a mission to train Billy to be a grocery bagger in order to find employment at a local store. All they have to do is persuade reluctant, reserved but kind hearted store owner Tom played by Ravi Kapoor to give Billy a shot!
The film tackles the incredibly serious theme of every parent of a disabled child's worse nightmare — namely that they will die before their child leaving them to fend for themselves. Yet this movie handles this with light-heartedness and grace. The film also shows the value of local businesses and community cohesion in helping to address the chronic underemployment of disabled people.
Lance Kinsey and Cole Massie star in The Paper Bag Plan
Maria Montessori recounts the early career of the legendary Italian pedagogue whose unique approach to self-directed learning and learning through play revolutionized the sphere of special needs education, and later, mainstream education, at the turn of the 20th century.
A joint production between French production company Geko Films and Italian production house Tempesta Film, this movie is as rich and vivid in its high value as it is thought-provoking and historically instructive.
The story focuses on a young Montessori played by Jasmine Trinca who, despite living in a highly patriarchal society, has broken through the glass ceiling to establish a special needs educational institution in Rome. She is later approached by Parisian courtesan Leïla Bekhti (Lili d'Alengy) who, having recently been reunited with her nine-year-old daughter Tina (Rafaelle Sonneville-Caby) who has learning disabilities, has fled Paris with her daughter due to the shame of having a child who she perceives as less than perfect. Leila reaches out to Maria for help and what follows is a journey of self-discovery for both women in unearthing the beauty and potential in vulnerable young minds when others can't see it.
The film is directed by Léa Todorov, who has a daughter with a genetic condition. The production and casting team also deserves recognition for rising to the challenge of assembling a cast of young children with an array of cognitive and motor challenges.
Though, as ever, this year's ReelAbilities lineup is as diverse as it is original and inspiring, during a recent interview, the festival's CEO and co-founder Issac Zablocki offered some words of caution:
'Previously, we've been seeing year-on-year growth in American disability related narratives but this year, there was a dip,' Zablocki says.
'Documentaries are, of course, much easier for filmmakers to make budget-wise and we're still seeing plenty of documentaries, but there's been a little bit of a dip in American-made feature films, which is room for concern.'
Zablocki doesn't speculate on all the reasons that could play into this or whether it is an outlier but adds somewhat revealingly, 'In terms of growth in the industry, we are seeing a lot of growth from around the world. Outside of America, there's always been so many more narrative films being made because there's funding from the government.'
For the broader picture to change in the U.S., the key is likely to be proving that disability filmmaking, when done right and granted equal access, can have a massive impact. For the next week, the stage is perfectly set to show just that.
