Media Masterpieces and ReelAbilities festivals feature neurodiverse films
“70/50,” one of the shorts shown as part of the “Unique Romances” section at the Marvels of Media Festival on Thursday night.
Courtesy of Corey Mann
Screenwriter Tony Spiridakis was unaware of the Museum of the Moving Image’s Media Marvel Festival — which celebrates the work of autistic media makers — before he wrote his star-studded film Ezra, about raising a child on the spectrum. But he quickly became a supporter after being contacted by Josh Saban, founder of MoM and former CEO of AMC Networks.
“(The Queens-based festival) recognizes the power of empathy and the undeniable beauty of diversity,” says Spyridakis, who now serves on its advisory board. Ezra Director Tony Goldwyn addressed the audience Thursday evening at the opening of its third annual edition. “It shows the authentic, unfiltered expression that comes from the unique perspectives of autistic media makers, something Hollywood and all artists can benefit from.”
Marvels of Media, running through tomorrow in Queens, joins the ReelAbilities Film Festival, which runs from April 3-10, and is hosted by EzraNew York premiere on opening night. Both film festivals are dedicated to filmmakers with disabilities and narratives featuring characters with disabilities. “A lot of these films don’t get the attention they deserve because Hollywood feels that (such a film) is unmarketable, or they do things differently. But it’s the opposite. They do things,” says Isaac Zablocki, co-founder of ReelAbilities. In a different way, that’s why it’s marketable.”
While autism, along with deafness and cerebral palsy, tends to appear more frequently in movies and television than other disabilities, according to Zablocki, still makes up a small number of the total narratives in mainstream Hollywood, which has a long history of misrepresenting neurodivergence through dehumanizing stereotypes. This is partly a byproduct of the disabled and neurodiverse community rarely having creative opportunities or space within the film industry, including the festival circuit, to tell their own stories.
But the presence of creators like Spiridakis, who has a son on the spectrum, and Danimation Entertainment CEO Danny Bowman, who stars in the Netflix series. Love is on the spectrumThis signals a small but notable shift in how the film industry respects and invests in neurodiversity, especially autistic creatives. “Through my journey in animation and my appearance in it Love is on the spectrum“I have witnessed first-hand the impact of challenging stereotypes and embracing diverse viewpoints,” says Bowman, who… Star-crossed destinies It was screened as part of the Ministry of Manpower’s ‘Unique Romances’ program last night. “I believe the entertainment industry has the opportunity to recognize and celebrate the unique voices and talents of individuals like me that have gone untapped and ignored for too long.”
Launched three years ago at the Ministry of Industry and Trade as part of a year-round initiative at the museum, the 2024 Marvels of Media Festival includes 17 films and one virtual reality project, created by neurodivergent directors, writers, editors, cinematographers and animators. “Marvels is just one of hundreds of film festivals around the world, but it is also completely unique and perfectly in keeping with the Museum of the Moving Image’s position as a hands-on creative space,” says Museum of the Moving Image Executive Director Aziz Isham. . “The festival is a celebration. It is a moment for neurodiverse makers and their friends, families and allies to come together, find strength, share ideas, forge collaborative partnerships and build community. This is what our museum is all about.”
MoM’s filmmakers are a diverse group of emerging and established artists who also identify as queer people or people of color and whose work brilliantly explores issues specific to and not related to the neurodiverse community. “(Stories written by community members) bring new worlds, new genres, new modes of expression,” says Saban, who has a neurodiverse adult child, and credits the quality and diversity of the MoM to its neurodiverse team and steering committee. The festival is co-organized by the museum’s assistant curator for public programs, Tiffany Joy Butler, and media and accessibility educator Miranda Lee, who is autistic herself. They not only help shape the shows, but also shape post-show panels and workshops on collage animation, puppetry techniques and audio-visual storytelling for early-career filmmakers and artists to develop and expand their skills. “We connected emerging autistic director Jackson Tucker Meyer with animator Jorge R. Gutierrez and actor, director and producer Sue Ann Penn through a virtual Marvels of Media Directors Roundtable,” Lee says, adding that the festival will continue to “serve as a forum.” A place for networking opportunities that connect neurodiverse and neurotypical artists.
This type of networking is also a key component of the ReelAbilities Industry Summit, which Zablocki says has built and expanded a community in real time. “Every year, we make sure we have an hour where we allow those relationships to grow.”
Investing in and supporting the growth and success of autistic media creators is part of the reason Spiridakis joined the inaugural Marvels of Media Advisory Board alongside Goldwyn, Jim Henson Foundation President Cheryl Henson, producer Brian Grazer, and former MTV Networks president and CEO Judy McGrath, As we see it Actor Pien and Great American Media CEO William J. Abbott, among others. “I was able to recruit a lot of them just by asking people who I thought, for any number of reasons, would be inclined to say yes,” Saban explains. “There are a wide range of reasons why they do this, including that they have a family member who is neurodivergent, or they are people with a broad world view. Two or three have a sense of creativity that, in terms of the work they do, would value the creative Who comes from a different place and space, who brings to the media industry something that may be different and uplifting.
It’s the kind of industry support that underscores the mission of these festivals. Movies like EzraHe says Zablocki, not only “comes from a very honest and most importantly authentic place,” but also signals a larger sea change within the mainstream American market and festival space. Titles like ReelAbilities’ Closing Night Film, executive produced by Steve Way Good things bad,selections Assembly capsStarring Judd Hirsch and Amy Smart, the Slamdance Award-winning film stars Judd Hirsch and Amy Smart Daruma They all similarly come from that place.
“We’re seeing more and more American-made feature films, which wasn’t the case throughout the early years of our festival,” says ReelAbilities’ Zablocki, whose hybrid event this year will include more than 25 feature films and two days of feature films. Top of the industry. “We were relying on narrative features from Europe because there was government funding there. “We are now entering a new era where there is high-quality — still mostly independent — American cinema.”
This comes after years of success in the field of short films, which Zablocki says are often “the most daring films of the year.” At MoM, this includes “Unique Romances,” which explores queer and autistic relationships, and the voice of Ayo Edebiri and Seth Rogen. Tree blood, of exceptional minds and the beginning of the reel. ReelAbilities, a BAFTA-qualified festival in the Short Film category, features the documentary focusing on Troy Kotsur To my fatherLed by Jillian Mercado My eyes are here And Dear Ani — about one man’s 20-year journey that coincides with musician Ani DiFranco — is on the 2024 lineup.
For Saban, bringing these kinds of groundbreaking stories by autistic artists to audiences on the autism spectrum was a huge inspiration for founding the event, after witnessing the “liberation and connection” his son found through storytelling: “These are beautiful displays of how you relate to others.” . See the world differently if your lens is different, and that’s what I think is so great about what Marvels of Media is trying to do.
